SOLVING CONSUMER PROBLEMS

Our advocacy team has been solving consumer problems always free of charge since 2016. We have a proven success record of fixing disputes between customers and companies in a caring and logical way. We focus heavily on travel-related issues, but we also tackle non-travel-related problems. These articles tell the tales of those troubled consumers and how we helped, and how you can avoid a similar circumstance.

Singapore Airlines, an aircraft taking off

Middle name on your passport? Don’t make this airline ticket mistake

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What happens when your middle name is on your passport and airline ticket, but your last name is missing? Eleanor Rasmussen can tell you because it happened to her.

If your middle name is on your passport, you probably always try to add it to your airline ticket. But many airlines and booking agencies don’t give you that option.

The reason for this omission? Travelers aren’t required to include a middle name on their airline ticket – even if one is displayed on their passport.

In Rasmussen’s case, the online booking agent her friend used to book their airline tickets didn’t have a specific field to add a middle name. That led to a travel fiasco that left her with an unusable ticket to Tokyo with only her first and middle name.

Now, with her middle name on her ticket where her last name should be, Rasmussen is asking for our help. She’s hoping Consumer Rescue can convince Singapore Airlines to correctly rewrite her ticket.

But will the third-party booking agent cooperate

LOT Airlines, an aircraft in flight with the words LOT Polish Airlines on the side.

LOT Airlines mistakenly denied boarding to us. How do we get our $2,249 back?

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Yevgeniy and Artyom Yevtushenko flew LOT Airlines from Toronto to Astana, Kazakhstan, via Warsaw, Poland, last June without a hitch. But it was a different story when they tried to check in for their flight back to Canada in August. That’s when a stern LOT Airlines agent reviewed their passports and quickly denied boarding to the father and son. 

Confused by the employee’s announcement, Yevtushenko assumed there was some mistake that the airline could easily correct. That is until a supervisor appeared who promptly ended that assumption. He confirmed that LOT Airlines was required to deny boarding to the pair because they were missing Canadian visas. 

But the agents had some good news for the rejected passengers. Since their ultimate destination was Grand Rapids, Michigan, LOT could reroute the pair and avoid Canada altogether. However, there was bad news as well: the new itinerary would cost an additional $2,249. 

Given no other choice, a frustrated Yevtushenko paid the fee, and he and his son flew home to Michigan. 

Now, Yevtushenko is asking Consumer Rescue for help getting the money back. He hopes we can convince LOT Airlines that its employees mistakenly denied boarding to him and Artyom. They didn’t need Canadian visas, and he can prove it – if only someone would listen and look at the facts. 

If you’re familiar with our team, then you know he came to the right place to find someone willing to listen.

Norwegian Cruise Line Joy, a cruise ship in the Caribbean, NCL cruise ship

Norwegian Cruise Line received a refund for our canceled flight. Is that fair?

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Norwegian Cruise Line handled all the details of Caleb and Karyssa Deslich’s honeymoon trip. So when American Airlines canceled their outbound flight, they expected NCL to come to the rescue. That didn’t happen, and the couple almost missed their Caribbean cruise.

Almost.

The Desliches came to their own rescue and spent an additional $700 on a replacement flight. They flew to Miami and arrived just in time to board Norwegian Joy before it set sail. 

The couple assumed Norwegian Cruise Line would automatically refund either their canceled flight or the replacement one. But that didn’t happen.

Now Deslich is asking the Consumer Rescue team to intervene and get their money back. He says an NCL agent promised to send the $700 refund and then reneged on the deal.  

So what does the cruise line have to say about the missing refund for the canceled flight? The answer will probably surprise you.

The Maldives, blue ocean, blue sky, tropical trees.

A roaming charge nightmare: waking up to a $2,452 cell phone bill!

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Vacationing in the Maldives was a dream come true for Marilyn and Terry Thomas. That is until they got hit with a $2,452 roaming charge nightmare from Spectrum, their cell phone service provider.

The couple says they were soundly asleep as Terry’s phone racked up this shocking roaming charge after the hotel’s internet went down. 

Now, as the due date for this giant bill is rapidly approaching, they’re asking Consumer Rescue for help. The couple finds it hard to believe an idle phone could accrue $2,452 in roaming charges over several hours. 

But Spectrum says that phone did incur those roaming charges, and it expects the Thomases to pay the bill.

Can we rescue these consumers from their roaming charge nightmare? Let’s find out.

Norwegian Cruise Line's Encore sailing through Alaska, mountains, ship, sunset, ocean

We upgraded our cabin to celebrate! Why did NCL cancel our $3,737 Alaskan cruise?

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Did Norwegian Cruise Line really cancel a couple’s Alaskan cruise after first confirming a cabin upgrade to celebrate their anniversary? The answer to that question is “Yes.” Here’s their terrible tale.

The pair was all set for the trip of a lifetime to celebrate this milestone anniversary.

But Norwegian Cruise Line soon had a truly awful surprise of its own for Al’s wife – and for him too.

Not only would the couple not be cruising to Alaska in an upgraded cabin, they wouldn’t be on the ship at all. According to Norwegian Cruise Line, it had canceled the Parents’ $3,737 fully-paid anniversary trip due to “nonpayment.” 

Now the distraught and confused couple is asking Consumer Rescue for help. They’re rejecting the outrageous $319 refund that Norwegian Cruise Line says is all it owes the Parents. The pair hope our advocacy team can convince NCL that it made a mistake when it canceled their cruise for nonpayment. 

And if we can do that, they expect NCL to reinstate their Alaskan cruise and upgraded cabin (and don’t forget that cake!).

Can we do it? Let’s find out.

A U.S. passport on top of a white and brown world map

Yes, you can still get a new passport fast. This is how

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Imagine your entire family is excitedly packing for your first international adventure since the beginning of the pandemic. You’ll soon be on your way to the Caribbean to relax and enjoy some sun and tropical drinks. 

Or will you? 

The traveler in this tale neglected to look at his passport’s expiration date until a few nights before his family’s trip. That’s when he was shocked to discover the document had expired – two years ago!

But no worries, he thought. Consumer Rescue could surely help him.

Why was this guy so confident about that, you might ask.

Well, that’s the embarrassing part of this story.

This is a stovetop, boiling water in a pot

Why was I charged $500 for stealing a stove from my hotel room?

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Laura Fernandez just got charged $500 for stealing a stove from her Home2 Suites hotel room. However, this accusation has two big problems. First, she says there was no such appliance in the suite and second, she’s not a thief.

But the management of the franchised property didn’t let those little details get in the way. Two hours after Fernandez checked out of her hotel room, they swiped her debit card for an extra $500.

And she called the police to file a robbery charge against the hotel. 

Now she’s hoping that Consumer Rescue can get her $500 returned and clear her name.

What’s going on here?