Welcome to Consumer Rescue
Your Fiasco Fixer
Consumer reporter and ombudsman columnist
Could an ombudsman columnist who routinely writes about tourist scams become the target of one herself? The answer is, of course, “Yes.” No traveler is immune to the possibility of a brush with a bad actor — not even me.
How did a $428 Southwest Airlines ticket end up costing an American Airlines customer in distress $4,500? If you guessed a fake airline call center scam is behind this astounding upsell, you would be right.
Ace Rent a Car at the Tampa airport blindsided Carla Lemker with a $1,400 repair bill after her last rental. Sure that she didn’t cause any damage to the vehicle, Lemker asked the company for proof. That’s when things got really weird.
Norwegian Cruise Line recently denied boarding to a bewildered passenger in Tokyo — she says, solely because of her nationality. But the next day, NCL reversed course and told the woman she was welcome to join the cruise.
Unfortunately, by then, Norwegian Spirit had sailed and was nearly 500 miles away in Kobe.
Mid-flight engine troubles on Swiss Air led to a couple’s struggle for a $1,500 premium economy upgrade refund. Can Consumer Rescue help?
Publishers Clearing House scams remain a menace to senior citizens, even after the company’s bankruptcy this year. I know because a friendly, self-proclaimed “man of God” called me last week, claiming to be a representative of PCH. He said he’d soon arrive at my house to deliver my sweepstakes award of “a whopping $5.5 million.”
Aurora Expeditions’ subsidiary Vantage Explorations just turned two years old. To celebrate this milestone, the cruise line has big news and a $2,500 booking bonus for cruisers.
Here’s what’s next for Vantage Explorations and Aurora Expeditions.
Cruise ship passengers frequently contact Consumer Rescue after falling victim to scams during their travels. Unfortunately, by then it’s usually too late to do anything – except to tell their stories so others can avoid the same fate.
Here are the eight most common travel scams you should know before your next cruise.
Norwegian Cruise Line passengers Shirley Russom and her friend Robert intended to sail to Alaska last May. Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for them. En route to the cruise, severe storms rolled into Denver, Colorado, during what was supposed to be a two-hour layover.
That layover morphed into an unexpected two-day detour, and the friends never made it to Seattle, where Norwegian Encore waited. The ship sailed to Alaska, and the devastated friends flew back home to South Carolina.
If an AI scanner fails to flag pre-existing damage on your rental car, you could be wrongly charged for repairs. But could those same images actually vindicate you in the end? One Sixt customer just discovered that, with a little help from Consumer Rescue, the answer is “Yes.”
Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Info
© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
