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Fiascos and Fixes
Consumer Rescue’s tagline is Fiascos and Fixes, and that’s because we receive tons of requests for help solving mishaps that travelers have encountered during a vacation. These tales are the most dramatic of the bunch and contain tips and guidance so that you can avoid a similar vacation fiasco.
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.”
Joanne May and her extended family got a terrible surprise when they arrived in London. The luxurious eight-bedroom, six-bathroom Vrbo vacation rental May reserved for the group of 15 was suddenly unavailable.
The rental host assured the family not to worry; he’d already moved them to a similar Vrbo nearby. Not only that, he claimed the new apartment was actually a complementary upgrade… it definitely wasn’t.
On their recent Alaskan adventure, a Tennessee couple spent $1,850 on an engraved mammoth tusk to commemorate the trip. But by the time United Parcel Service delivered the delicate artwork to their home, it was smashed. Even worse, UPS quickly denied all responsibility and rejected the insurance claim. Now what?
Ron Samborsky and his family were on their way to Europe to board Norwegian Cruise Line’s Breakaway… until they weren’t. After American Airlines canceled their flight and offered no replacement until the next day, the trip was in serious jeopardy.
Then a scammer stepped in to save the day.
A Florida couple missed their much-anticipated Princess cruise after a flight delay caused them to miss their connection to Australia. However, that’s not the worst part of this story – not by a long shot. The real shock came when the stunned duo learned the fate of the $21,000 they spent on the 41-day sailing aboard Crown Princess.
According to their travel insurance company, the couple would receive just $1,000 for their missed cruise.
An Airbnb guest planned a trip to Las Vegas. She was not anticipating that her biggest gamble would be on her Airbnb rental. Unfortunately, this thoroughly unsatisfactory illegal Airbnb rental in Sin City was anything but a winner, and now Mary wants a complete refund.
Can we help?
Would a car rental company permanently ban a customer and offer no way back – ever? Joseph H. learned firsthand that when Hertz tells you it will never rent to you again, it means forever.
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© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
