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Fiascos and Fixes
The Consumer Rescue advocacy team resolves problems between consumers and the businesses that they patronize. We do this via direct mediation with companies — always free of charge.
These articles are the highlighted tales of our efforts to defend, protect, and educate consumers. Michelle Couch-Friedman is a consumer advocate, reporter and ombudsman columnist. She is also the founder of Consumer Rescue.
If your child is under 24 months old, United Airlines will allow you to fly with the baby on your lap free of charge. But what happens if your offspring celebrates a birthday mid-trip?
For one family, the answer was unbelievably expensive. Here’s their story.
Your bank can’t reverse a successful credit card dispute nearly a year after confirming a positive resolution. So why did Nusenda backtrack and surprise this customer with a $16,544 recharge long after his dispute was finalized?
That’s what the Consumer Rescue team aimed to find out after this unusual request for help hit our inbox.
Could you get sent to collections over a $1,638 repair bill for a rental car you never drove? It happened to this Hertz customer.
What happens if an airline goes bankrupt in the middle of your vacation and leaves you stranded abroad? Is there anything you can do to get a refund?
Would Norwegian Cruise Line ban a passenger just for complaining about itinerary changes? The answer likely depends on how the passenger delivers their grievance.
One former NCL customer recently discovered that his complaint about a port cancellation on an upcoming cruise wasn’t well received. And that’s an understatement.
Cruise passengers beware: Royal Caribbean will cancel your cruise if you have any unpaid balance after your contract’s due date. That’s true even if the balance you owe is small. One unaware couple learned this costly lesson at the pier when the cruise line blocked their attempt to board Navigator of the Seas.
Not only did the stunned couple miss their much-anticipated cruise to Mexico, but Royal Caribbean kept their $842 deposit, too.
What if your doctor recommended some expensive blood tests that Medicare would not cover? That’s what happened recently to Kim Hanks. Unfortunately, she didn’t find out until after her blood tests were complete that Medicare would not pay for them.
If you arrive in a foreign country without a valid passport in your hand, you’re going back home. That’s guaranteed. But sometimes, that’s not all that happens, unfortunately. Here’s how a simple passport mistake landed one female solo traveler with vacation dreams in a Mexican jail nightmare.
Here’s her story.
Cruise ship passengers beware: It matters how you reserve and pay for your shore excursions. A group of disgruntled cruisers recently learned this expensive lesson after making the mistake of booking an iceberg tour through a fellow passenger.
Here’s a warning about booking third-party cruise excursions and tours.
What happens when an unruly airline passenger refuses to follow the instructions of the cabin crew? This unaware and belligerent United Airlines customer and his family found out on their last flight with the carrier.
And I do mean last.
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© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
