MICHELLE COUCH-FRIEDMAN

Michelle Couch-Friedman is an author and consumer advocate. She is the founder of Consumer Rescue. Michelle has successfully mediated thousands of problems for troubled travelers and other consumers during her career as an advocate.

Could you get hit with a false car rental cleaning fee during your next trip? Our files suggest that it's a possibility. Here's what to do if it happens to you.

How to get a $400 cleaning fee on your car rental removed? Like this

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Hertz gave Vincent Iannacci a most unpleasant surprise at the end of his recent car rental: a $400 cleaning fee.

Knowing that he’d returned the vehicle in pristine condition, Vincent assumed Hertz had billed him in error. But when he tried to get the cleaning fee removed, the car rental giant told him there was no mistake. In fact, a company representative explained, employees had snapped photos of cigarette butts smashed into the vehicle’s carpet. As a result, the $400 cleaning fee would stand.

Now outraged, Vincent, a life-long nonsmoker, intends to fully defend himself against this false accusation. He says no one smoked in his rental car, and he refuses to let the cleaning fee stand.

Vincent is hoping our advocacy team can help him fight this battle. But will photos of the offending cigarette make his case impossible to successfully mediate?

Norwegian Cruise Line denied boarding to this child. Mom says it was the cruise line's mistake. Can we find out what went wrong?

My child was denied boarding our cruise! Can NCL refuse my refund request?

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Anakarina Alvarez has a highly unusual story to tell — one that includes lots of confusing twists and turns. She says her family had been eagerly looking forward to a tropical vacation aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Gem. Unfortunately, those plans ended abruptly at embarkation when the cruise line denied boarding to her 11-year-old child. To add insult to injury, NCL refused the family’s $4,000 refund request, too.

Consumer Alert: Here are the latest eBay gift card scams to avoid.

eBay gift card scams are running wild. This is how to avoid them

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Here come the eBay gift card scammers — and just in time to steal your cash before the holidays. But the Consumer Rescue team is here too, warning you about these swindlers so you can avoid their trap.

We’ve received many pleas for help from distraught victims of various eBay gift card scams during the past year. They’ve lost hundreds and even thousands of dollars to this scheme. These consumers all want the same thing: to retrieve their stolen money from the anonymous predators who tricked them.

But is there any possible way to do that?

After reading this story, you might agree that we've found the worst travel agent ever -- one that doesn't even know the difference between the west and east coast of Mexico.

Is this the worst travel agent ever?

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Christopher Anderson believes he has discovered the worst travel agent ever — one who lacks even basic geography skills. 

Just how bad were those skills? Well, Christopher and his wife asked this travel “professional” to plan a vacation to Cabo San Lucas. But she booked them a trip to Cancun, on the opposite side of Mexico. Then to make matters worse, this geographically challenged agent expected the couple to pay for her mistake.

What is going on here, and can our advocacy team help?

If you find mice in your next vacation rental, should you get a refund? This Airbnb guest believes so.

My vacation rental has mice! Shouldn’t Airbnb refund me?

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If you book a vacation rental and it has mice, are you responsible for catching and disposing of the rodents? And if so, does the Airbnb host owe you a refund or other compensation for your troubles?

That’s what Gabriella Costanza wants to know after her recent unpleasant experience. She and her significant other had planned to celebrate the holidays in a clean, cozy Airbnb property. Unfortunately, soon after the couple arrived, it became clear they weren’t alone in the vacation rental. And although Airbnb allows shared-space rentals, these additional “residents” were of the most unwelcome and unapproved kind – mice.

But maybe even worse than the reality that mice were living at this Airbnb was the host’s response. This vacation rental owner expected Gabby to put down glue traps and spend her holiday dealing with the inevitable outcome, which the young traveler did.

Now Gabby is asking Airbnb for a refund for this vacation rental experience. But will the fact that the couple completed their entire stay make that an impossible outcome?

Azamara made a pricing mistake with this traveler's cruise-- a big one. Does it have to honor it? This passenger thinks so.

If a cruise line makes a big pricing mistake, should you book it?

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If a cruise line makes a huge pricing mistake, is it required to honor it?

Patrick Gendron thinks so. He recently found an incredible deal for a suite on a 10-night cruise through the Mediterranean on Azamara’s Pursuit. So he quickly booked and paid for not one, but two suites. But the cruise line soon slammed him back into reality — the deal was a $30,000 pricing mistake. And the erroneous rate would not be honored for this cruise.

Now Patrick wants to know if we can force Azamara to give him the two suites for what he paid. But is his request reasonable?

This case brings up the controversial topic of “fat-finger fares” or “gotcha rates.” Those are too-good-to-be-true offers erroneously displayed on companies’ websites. Some consumers believe they should be entitled to these bargains regardless of the value of the pricing mistake.

But no matter which side of this debate you support, you’ll likely have an opinion about Patrick’s experience.

This passenger made a big mistake bidding on a business class upgrade.

This business class upgrade was a big mistake. I want a refund!

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What if you snagged an international business class upgrade for just $400, but later found out that figure was a mistake? Steven Schmidt says that’s exactly what happened to him and his wife. She won a bid for a comfy business class upgrade on a flight from Chicago to Vienna. But once they returned from their trip, the couple suffered a severe case of sticker shock. The actual cost of the upgrade: $3,400.

Steven says the mistake over the cost of the business class upgrade originated with the airline. And he wants our advocacy team to join him in a crusade to obtain a refund. But is that something we can do?

This Airbnb guest just had the worst experience ever. This shared space rental was a true nightmare.

Is this the worst Airbnb experience ever?!

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Lee Smith believes she just had the worst Airbnb experience ever. And after you hear — and see — what she (and her cat) endured during the past month, I think you might agree.

Her tale is a harsh reminder of the risky nature of shared-space rentals. Smith assumed the Airbnb host had properly vetted the man with whom she would be sharing an apartment. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

This is why you should never say you've been nearly killed in an inflight accident when you haven't.

Never claim to be nearly killed by an inflight injury if you weren’t. This is why

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Mai Le says that an in-flight injury on Hawaiian Airlines nearly put an end to her life. Now she’s asking our advocacy team to force the airline to pay her medical bills and other compensation. But the evidence of her near-fatal accident might just be the end of this complaint. 

Mai’s tale is an example of what happens when a traveler overshoots the mark with a complaint. We know that often companies will go out of their way to respond to a customer’s valid problem. But the opposite is also true. When a passenger wildly exaggerates the details of an experience, their grievance might just get hit with the delete button.