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.

If you hate your cruise excursion, can you get a refund? This cruiser found our the jolting answer.

Hate your shore excursion? Here’s how a credit card chargeback will just make things worse

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If you hate your next shore excursion and the cruise line refuses your refund request, don’t expect a credit card dispute to save the day. It won’t. Joseph Campo can tell you.

After a salmon-fishing excursion in Alaska went all wrong, Campo asked Princess Cruises for his money back. When that didn’t happen, he filed a chargeback with his credit card company — and won. So he assumed that settled the matter.

It didn’t. Not even close.

Consumer alert about the fake job scam on LinkedIn, Zelle job scam, scammers lurking on LinkedIn offering jobs that don't exist.

How a fake job scam on LinkedIn cost a college student $9,000

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Could you fall for a fake job scam?

If you’re like Sam Erin, you probably answered “no!” She’s a college-educated young adult who was sure she knew how to spot a con game. That is until a phony employment crime ring preyed on her naivety and stole nearly $9,000 from her.

Now, after draining her bank account, the scammers have vanished, leaving Erin jobless and cashless. She’s hoping our advocacy team can help. But how?

If a stranger sends you money, should you keep it? This Zelle user wishes he had.

Surprise! A stranger just sent money to you through Zelle. Now what?

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If a stranger sends you money by mistake, do you have any obligation to give it back? If so, how do you do it without exposing yourself to a scam? And if you transfer money to the wrong person using Zelle, is there any possible way to fix your mistake?

These are not uncommon dilemmas faced by users of cash apps like Zelle and Venmo in 2022. Along with the increasing popularity and convenience of instant money transfer services came a dramatic rise in pricey user errors. Unfortunately, our attempts to investigate and resolve many of these cases have exposed some disturbing flaws in the programs.

Minh Tran is just one of the many desperate Zelle users who’ve recently asked our team for help. In his case, a stranger’s mistake set off a frustrating and confusing chain of events that almost cost him $360.

Don't fall for this vacation rental scam -- never use Zelle to pay.

How to easily lose $500 to a vacation rental scam? Pay with Zelle

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Falling for a vacation rental scam surely is not at the top of your list of things to do this summer. It certainly wasn’t in Don Boyk’s plans. But that’s exactly what happened when a thief disguised as a Vrbo host persuaded him to send a $500 deposit via Zelle.

His cash was soon in the hands of the scammer and Vrbo informed him the listing was fraudulent. 

Now Don hopes we can find a way to save him from this vacation rental scam and retrieve his money.

But if a consumer uses Zelle to send cash to a stranger, is there any way to get it back? 

Why Did Hertz put this customer on the Do Not Rent List?

How can I get off of the Do Not Rent list?! This isn’t my mistake

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Heather Steele just landed on the Do Not Rent list of her favorite car rental company — Hertz. She says she’s been a great customer of Hertz for many years and the banishment has her flabbergasted. But a dispute over a prepaid car rental refund sent her account to collections and earned her a spot on the blacklist.

Now Steele is asking our advocacy team to step in and clear her name. She wants to be removed from the Do Not Rent list and have Hertz return her account to good standing.

Can we do it?

Why does this Airbnb host have so many problems with his shared space rental in London?

I didn’t want a shared space Airbnb rental! How did I get one?

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It’s easy to find a shared space Airbnb rental if that’s what you’re looking for. Each one is clearly labeled and it’s difficult to book a shared space property by mistake. So that’s what makes Maxim Belyayev’s recent Airbnb experience so unusual. 

He used the listing giant to book a private condo in London for his upcoming vacation. But when the Airbnb host sent the house rules, it sounded more like a youth hostel than a $3,668 luxury apartment. A follow-up message made it clear that Maxim would be sharing the common space in the Airbnb rental with strangers. 

Maxim immediately canceled the unwanted shared space rental, and the Airbnb host just as quickly rejected his refund request. 

Now Maxim hopes that we can get his money back. He believes this Airbnb host is a scammer. And if you’re a regular reader of my column, I suspect you’ll soon agree with him.