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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.
Could you be denied boarding your cruise even if you have a valid passport? The answer was ‘yes’ for one Carnival Cruise Line passenger who missed her much-anticipated trip recently.
Here’s her unfortunate tale.
After Robbin Yeh’s last car rental, Alamo surprised him with a repair bill for mechanical damage to the vehicle. Despite Yeh’s protests that the rental car had pre-existing problems, Alamo continued to pursue him for $662 to fix it. Reluctantly, Yeh agreed to let Alamo file an insurance claim through his credit card company.
At least, that’s what he thought Alamo was doing to pay for the damage to the car.
It wasn’t until four months later that Yeh discovered that he was responsible for filing that insurance claim, not Alamo.
Now with the deadline for filing an insurance claim long since passed, Yeh is asking Consumer Rescue for help. He’s hoping we can convince Chase eClaims to make an exception and pay the repair bill for the rental car.
Can we do it?
Isaac Chambers says an Airbnb host just hit him with an expensive bait and switch scam of sorts. After you hear his troubling story, you’ll likely agree.
Many months after Chambers booked the perfect vacation rental for his wedding party, his Airbnb host abruptly canceled the reservation. Citing “synchronization” issues as the cancellation reason, the management company suggested several undesirable replacement properties in Palm Springs.
Now just two months before his wedding, Chambers’ group has nowhere to stay. That is unless they want to rent the exact same Airbnb vacation rental with this host – for an additional $13,341.
So what are those “synchronization” issues that allowed the host to cancel this Airbnb and relist it at a much higher rate? That’s what Chambers is asking Consumer Rescue to find out.
Although a Real ID and an Enhanced ID look nearly identical, there are critical differences between the two identifications. Diane Dipalma recently received a rapid and painful education on the topic while attempting to board Carnival Cruise Line’s Legend.
She and her new husband believed they could use their Real ID driver’s licenses to take the cruise. But the Carnival Cruise Line staff quickly clarified that they couldn’t, and the shocked newlyweds missed their honeymoon.
Here’s their story and what you need to know about the differences between a Real ID and an Enhanced ID.
A Canadian Super 8 hotel blindsided Mirko Dulic, accusing him and his boys of damaging the TV in their room. After checking out, the franchise helped itself to $500 from Dulic’s bank account without even a shred of documentation to support its accusations. When pressed to provide some concrete justification for the $500 charge, the management went silent.
And Dulic went straight to our advocacy team for help.
What happens if your hotel price drops after booking your room — by $1,000? That’s what Jackie Ng wants to know.
She booked a hotel in Singapore that dramatically reduced its rates after Ng prepaid for her nonrefundable stay. Ng thought that the Hotels com best rate guarantee would protect her. But the online booking agent swiftly rejected her $1,000 price reduction refund request.
The surprising reason why might leave you as bewildered as Ng.
For years, legions of Vantage Deluxe World Travel customers eagerly purchased their trip insurance directly from the luxury tour operator. They loved the ease and convenience of having a one-stop shop for their travel planning. Unfortunately, many, if not most of these unsuspecting consumers neither read nor understood the trip protection they were buying.
That was a mistake.
Now with Vantage Travel seemingly unable to pay its bills or operate its tours, a giant light is shining on its pricey waiver product. Thousands of desperate customers are finally reading the details of the trip protection Vantage sold them. Far too late, they’re discovering the policy provides virtually no protection at all if the company runs out of money.
Searching for the best hotel for your vacation can be challenging, with so many different properties and booking options. Choosing the wrong hotel or booking site can take your trip from one of excitement to a real disappointment. And if it’s a nonrefundable room, you’ll have to pay for that disappointment.
Let’s keep that from happening.
In the past month, pleas for help from distressed customers, vendors and even employees of Vantage Deluxe World Travel have flooded my inbox at an alarming rate. That’s the Boston-based company that announced bad guys had hit it with ransomware at the end of April. At that time, the tour operator’s website went offline, as did its call center – for an entire week.
Since then, it’s been all downhill for the customers of the once well-respected and beloved operator of luxury tours. Today Vantage Travel appears to be in a state of suspended animation. It has officially canceled all its cruises and land tours through June 10.
Although Vantage Travel has not publicly announced that it will continue to cancel more cruises, it is inevitable. In fact, a Vantage Travel employee sent me an internal memo yesterday that announces that it will cancel all tours through Aug. 28.
The once-lively vessels of Vantage Travel are turning into immobile ghost ships without passengers or crews.
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.
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© 2024 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
