Alyson McFarland’s Alitalia problem may be solvable. She’d missed her flight from Johannesburg to Tunis even though she showed up at the airport on time. But the solution isn’t going to make her happy, and it probably won’t make you happy, either.
At first, Beverly Parker’s Greyhound bus problem looked like a slam dunk case. Valuables had gone missing from her checked luggage during a recent trip from Birmingham, Ala., to Albion, Mich. And Greyhound wasn’t exactly breaking a land speed record to help her. But then I read the details of her request, and a simple case suddenly became complicated. It wasn’t the $150,000 claim amount that fazed me. My computer adds a few extra characters if I don’t release the zero key fast enough. I was certain that was a typo.It was everything else.
Staying home may not be your idea of a vacation, but more people are reportedly considering a “staycation” this year than any time since the Great Recession.To which I say: Go for it! Staying home can teach you so much about having a better vacation.
Cristina Falcon wants to know if her ticket refund problem is her mistake or a Lufthansa mistake. After all, the fare she chose said “refundable.” But is a refund from Lufthansa even possible for her?
Lindsey Clark wants to return her seven-year-old mattress. She claims it has a manufacturer’s defect. But is something else going on?
Did Renata Lambert steal a TV from her rental apartment in Warsaw, Poland? Lambert says she didn’t, but her host insists she did. Now the two parties are locked in a dispute over an Airbnb theft that she thinks I can settle. Lambert’s case raises questions that have no easy answer. How do you prove a guest took something from your rental? If you’re a guest, how do you prove it wasn’t you? And what’s Airbnb’s role in mediating these conflicts?
Atif Shabbirdin’s wife is denied boarding on EasyJet because a representative incorrectly believes she doesn’t have the right visa to fly from Spain to England. Even after the airline promises a refund of her airfare and out-of-pocket expenses, EasyJet leaves her waiting. What’s going on?
Our return to Paris was all but a sure thing. We had our passports. We’d spent weeks brushing up our French in Duolingo. We were even arguing about the best apartments on HomeAway.And then life happened.It wasn’t one thing that sunk our summer plans in Paris. Instead, it was a lot of little things, including some paperwork issues, school schedules and, of course, the funds. In the end, it’s always about money, isn’t it?
Catrina Smith is sure that the $2,231 she paid for her flight upgrade from Prague to Madrid was an Iberia error. After all, an unrestricted business class ticket booked at the last minute costs less than one-third as much — roughly $630. Something is wrong, she says.
The warning signs were there: blurry photos, a long gap between reviews, and a request to wire money. But Elizabeth Long still found the Paris rental impossible to resist. She ended up drawing me into yet another Vrbo problem, this time involving a fake rental and a request for a refund that will be difficult to fulfill.
