Diane Stephany loses her Amtrak tickets. But instead of replacing them, the company wants to charge her for new ones. Can it do that? And what are her options for a refund?
From the category archives:
The Travel Troubleshooter
When a blizzard bears in on St. Cloud, Minn., Bonnie Polk asks a manager at the Ramada if she can cancel her reservation. Yes, she’s told. But a few days later, her credit card is billed and the hotel refuses to give her a refund. Is she out of luck?
When Martha Schmidt tries to cancel her airline tickets, her online agent promises to help her reuse the credit quickly. But after eight hours on the phone and an email promising a response “within four to eight hours” she feels as if she’s being stonewalled. Are her tickets missing in action?
Frank Santa Maria buys two tickets to Italy on Expedia. But when an agent misspells his wife’s name, he must embark on an odyssey to ensure she’ll be allowed to use her tickets. Will he be successful?
When he calls the Residence Inn, Michael Tushan is offered a rate of $116 a night. Oops. Turns out the representative wasn’t “authorized” to negotiate — and now the price is $149 a night. Take it or leave it. What should Tushan do?
Even though she prepays for a hotel room on Hotwire.com, Elke Rist gets half of what she’s promised: just one bed and quarters the size of a “jail cell.” It will cost her twice as much as the room she reserved. Can the hotel do that?
It’s been a year since Anita Isaia’s cruise, but the insurance claim she made through a company that offered traveler “protection” is apparently lost at sea. Will she ever get her $675 back? Find out.
Troy Pelias and his extended family have a disastrous Disney vacation, featuring everything from a broken-down monorail to confusing meal plans. But his complaints are being ignored. What can he do to get Mickey’s attention?
Megan Gallardo cancels her flight because of a death in the family, and her online agent suggests she may get a refund. But more than a year and countless letters and faxes later, there’s no sign of her $303. What gives?
When Jessica Santangelo and her husband check in at the Hertz rental counter in Zagreb, they’re told they have to buy insurance. But Santangelo had been told she was fully covered before her trip. Should Hertz refund her insurance now that she’s home?
Kristin Luna reserves a car in Austin, Texas but when she checks in, her car rental company is out of vehicles. She’s free to rent from another company, but will have to pay an extra $245. Shouldn’t her car rental company or travel agent help her?
The trip cancellation policy for her European river cruise promises her a full refund, but when Sylvia Sweeney tries to recover the $5,595 she spent through her tour operator, she’s turned down. Can Sweeney do anything to recover her money?
Nanci Moll’s travel agency goes bust without paying her hotel in the Cayman Islands. Now the resort wants her to pay for her stay — again. Shouldn’t her credit card protect her against a double billing? And what if it doesn’t?
The airline tickets Marianne Ellis buys for a family vacation to Tanzania are refundable with a change fee, but her online travel agent fails to tell her that the fee is about a quarter of the cost of the ticket. Now that she has to cancel, will she lose thousands of dollars?
Donald Johnson accidentally reserves a nonrefundable room in Oklahoma City instead of Enid, Okla. Now his hotel wants to keep the money. Can he get a refund? Or is he stuck with a room he can’t use?
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