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Fiascos and Fixes
Here’s what happens when things go wrong for travelers on the road, in the air, at hotels, and in vacation rentals.
The Travel Troubles category at Consumer Rescue is a collection of real-life stories about travelers who’ve encountered unexpected issues during their adventures. Each tale is dramatic but is a cautionary example, offering valuable lessons and practical advice.
The Travel Troubles section is meant to educate and empower travelers, helping them avoid similar issues and know what to do when things go wrong.
Travelers who encounter a problem they can’t resolve on their own should ask for help from our advocacy team. Our direct mediation service is fast, friendly, and always free!
An Air Canada agent made a mistake that set off a terrible chain of events for Sarahy Sigie during the dark days of the pandemic. The end result? Sarahy was detained in South Korea for 15 days against her will and at her own expense.
Maureen Heller recently received a shocking message from Budget Security about a missing rental car. The letter accused Maureen of failing to return a Nissan Sentra that she had left at the Detroit airport weeks earlier.
But with no receipt to prove she returned it, will Maureen be on the hook for this missing rental car?
What if you made the worst booking mistake ever — and realized it just moments too late?
Lori Korosek did just that. This novice traveler intended to book a relaxing all-inclusive beachfront hotel in Jamaica for her son and herself. But she accidentally ended up with a nonrefundable, landlocked business hotel that forbids children — located one hour from the beach.
Now Lori is asking our advocacy team if we can do anything about her $1,500 vacation planning gaffe.
Lori’s colossal booking mistake underscores the fact that not everyone should attempt to book their own travel. In this case, a professional trip advisor could have provided critical guidance to this rookie traveler. And although we don’t typically mediate self-created fiascos, Lori has an extenuating circumstance that I found difficult to disregard.
Last fall, Russell Wayne’s rental car inexplicably crashed into the ocean in a picturesque seaside town in Spain. Unfortunately, the strange accident totaled the Europcar-owned Audi and plunged Russell into an insurance nightmare with Chase Eclaims.
Now Russell is asking our advocacy team for help in getting his $27,825 insurance claim paid.
Can we do it?
Andrew Dupuy made a “little” mistake when he returned his recent car rental in Seattle. He says an innocent oversight caused him to drop the vehicle off at the wrong place. Only after it was too late to fix the problem did he see the shocking price tag of his error.
Now Andrew is asking if he’s really stuck with the $951 penalty the car rental company charged for this mistake.
Can we help?
Something went terribly wrong with Catherine Duffin’s last Expedia booking. She used the online travel agency to plan her family’s New Year’s getaway to the all-inclusive Xcaret Resort in Mexico. Assuming the cost displayed on her Expedia confirmation would indeed include everything, she received a shock at check-in. That’s when hotel management asked for not only the over $16,000 she expected to pay — but also an additional $8,000.
Is your Airbnb account safe from scammers and hackers?
Berenice Anaya certainly thought so. In fact, the possibility of a criminal accessing her Airbnb account and causing havoc had not even crossed her mind.
However, this Airbnb user recently woke up to an unpleasant reality after a scammer successfully hacked right into her account. The Airbnb security team thwarted the thief and prevented him from completing his ultimate goal. But not before $1,942 was removed from Berenice’s bank account.
So why won’t Airbnb return the money to its victimized guest? That’s what Berenice is asking our team after repeatedly trying unsuccessfully to retrieve her cash from the company.
What’s going on here, and can we help?
Could asking for an upgrade to business class end with you getting kicked off your flight — and banned for life?
Maybe.
“Social Influencer” Jacqueline Ng insists that’s exactly what happened to her when she recently asked for an upgrade. Cathay Pacific agents turned down her request in no time and then kicked her off the flight. Worse, the airline accused her of fraud and banned her from all future flights.
Jacqueline says this is all a misunderstanding. Now she wants our advocacy team to investigate and ask the airline to reverse the banishment.
Beth Mowery just had the worst car rental experience of her life, and she wants you to know about it.
When you rent a car, you probably assume you’ll only pay for your own rental. But several days after Beth returned her last rental car, she received a nearly $1,000 upcharge. As it turns out, Hertz billed her for someone else’s rental. What followed was a series of careless mistakes that the car rental company refused to acknowledge or correct. And each mistake was more frustrating than the last.
Now Beth hopes our advocacy team can help fix these errors and retrieve her money.
A British Airways employee made a mistake and refused to let Jordan Allen board his scheduled flight to Africa. That error cost him $5,754.
Jordan says he showed up at the airport ready for his flight with valid identification for the journey. But his travel plans came to an abrupt end at the check-in counter. There, an unpleasant British Airways agent incorrectly rejected his passport and visa and denied him boarding. That airline representative’s mistake cost Jordan more than just cash, and he wants our advocacy team to help right this wrong.
This tale is disheartening, to be sure. Jordan had done all of his homework for his much-anticipated international journey. But his case shows that, unfortunately, sometimes a traveler can hit an unexpected roadblock through no fault of their own.
And that’s exactly why our advocacy team is here.
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