⛑️Consumer Rescue presents🛟
Tales from Consumer Advocacy Land
Real stories. Real rescues. Real advice.
A humble brag: We won an Excellence in Travel Journalism Silver Award!
❤️Hello friends, old and new!!
It’s been quite a whirlwind week for Consumer Rescue (and me).
It started out with Boston Globe columnist Kari Bodnarchuk’s article about my advocacy work being published in last Sunday’s paper. That led to a giant surge of requests for help to our Get Rescued hotline and a flood of new subscribers to this newsletter.
So first, I want to say WELCOME to all our new friends from the Boston area. We’re very happy to have you here with us!! 🤗
Then, as I was making my way through all the new cases, I received another very pleasant surprise. On Friday, the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) announced the winners of its 2026 annual awards competition.
🥁Drum roll, please…
I’m incredibly proud to report that Consumer Rescue won the Silver Award for Independent Travel Blog. 🥈🎉
In this category, the judges look at the entire body of work and evaluate the site for quality and usefulness — which means they’re judging everything we do here.
To say I’m thrilled with this honor is an understatement.
But now let’s get back to what’s actually happened in Consumer Advocacy Land this week.
In our first featured article, I’ll tell you the frustrating tale of a man who seemingly flew to Mexico without showing a boarding pass. That caused United Airlines to cancel his return flight, leaving him stranded in Cancun with no way home. When the airline wouldn’t reinstate his ticket, he took matters into his own hands and purchased a first-class flight back to Chicago.
United Airlines says he’s not owed any refund because he wasn’t on his original flight.
Can we prove to the airline that it made a mistake and should refund the $2,743 he spent on the replacement ticket? Find out today.
Of course, I’m sharing some other articles that you might have missed the first time around — and if you’re one of our new readers, those stories will be all new to you!
I’m also including the link below to the Boston Globe article about what we do here at Consumer Rescue, but I think you might need a subscription to read it. And if you’re interested in seeing a full list of all the winners of the NATJA awards, I’ll link to the press release, too.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, friends! 🤓
This Week’s Fiascos and Fixes 🔍
While boarding a recent United Airlines flight to Mexico, Fred Glatz accidentally handed over his wife’s boarding pass. He says the agent pointed out the mistake but waved him onto the plane without asking for his own pass. As the couple settled into their seats, they had no idea that the unusual oversight would cost them $2,743.
Michelle Couch-Friedman, Chief Fiasco Fixer
Kesha Green* made what is arguably the most dire mistake a passenger can make on a cruise ship. Just hours after boarding Carnival Conquest in Miami, she found herself unexpectedly brawling with two young women. Green says the surprise fisticuffs happened after the strangers stole her son's iPhone from a pool chair.
Michelle Couch-Friedman, Chief Fiasco Fixer
After Mikel Wilham finished chemotherapy last spring, he and his wife decided to celebrate with a trip to Las Vegas. But their respite was ruined when their hotel, The Strat, charged them a $396 smoking fee at checkout.
The Wilhams found this particularly strange since they are both lifelong nonsmokers.
Michelle Couch-Friedman, ombudsman columnist for The Points Guy
New York-based journalist and ombudswoman Michelle Couch-Friedman has helped people scammed by fake travel agencies, a college student who paid nearly $1,000 for a rodent-infested Airbnb, and a woman who was charged $8,000 for a rental car that died soon after pickup. She even helped a passenger get a $16,000 refund for a wildly misrepresented diamond necklace purchased on a cruise. Couch-Friedman, who writes consumer protection columns for The Points Guy and Fodor’s Travel, has successfully mediated thousands of cases as a consumer advocate over the past decade.
Kari Bodnarchuk for The Boston Globe
The North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) announced the winners of the 34th Annual NATJA Travel Media Awards Competition. Awards were made to publications, travel journalists and photographers, and destination marketing organizations. NATJA awards special recognition for the publication, destination, journalist, and photographer who excelled across various categories in the competition.
The comment section is open 💬🗣️
Do you have an opinion about today's articles? Want to share a suggestion? I love to hear from you.
Our site's comment section is open and ready for you to offer your thoughts. You can also add your comments under our articles on the Consumer Rescue Facebook page.
Or you can join our "Consumer Rescue: What's Your Problem?" Facebook group. It's a community where we can discuss consumer issues, solve real-time problems, chat about consumer news and our articles, and get quick answers to questions. Members can also share tips, guidance, and travel experiences.
It's a private group, so only members can see what's inside. We hope to see you there!
Welcome, new friends! 🥰
🤗Welcome to all our new subscribers! We're delighted to have you here with us.
*Ps. If you've received this newsletter as a forward, here's how to subscribe.
Friends! Don’t be shy. Sharing our newsletter with other like-minded consumers is a great way to show your support for our mission!
Until next time 😃
Don't forget! Consumer Rescue is just a click away. One of us is always here to answer your questions.
You can get direct consumer advocacy assistance here
What's your problem? Private Facebook group.
Ask Abe (Your registered Medicare counselor)
Of course, you can always reach me at [email protected]
Your friend and loyal consumer advocate,
Michelle Couch-Friedman
Founder/CFF (Chief Fiasco Fixer) 😛
917-841-0583
The Consumer Rescue newsletter and the articles you read on the site are fine-tuned by a team of absolutely wonderful editors (and my friends): Art Ellis, Karen Roberts, Irene Rawlings, Wendie Feinberg, Tanya Anticevic, Jennifer Finger, Robyn Whittingham, Teri Bergin, Dwayne Coward, and Chip Elam. ❤️ |