Elliott Advocacy is a nonprofit organization that mediates cases between consumers and businesses. These are commentary articles that detail our efforts and provide educational information for consumers.
Connie Matlin wants to do the impossible: buy travel insurance for what she thinks is an uninsurable trip. “My family and I would like to travel to Europe this summer,” explains Matlin, a financial planner from Cleveland. “I want to purchase airfare as soon as possible to secure a good price, but I’m also nervous.”
If you miss your flight, don’t stress out. There’s more than one way to save your vacation or business trip.
Everyone has to eat. But not everyone knows how to save money on groceries.
The average American spends $151 per week on food, a figure that includes groceries and restaurant spending. A deep dive into the numbers suggests people are spending less on groceries than they did 20 years ago, when adjusting for inflation.
It’s time for a federal automatic renewal law. Too many businesses overcharge their customers with auto-renewing club dues, gym memberships, and subscriptions. The madness has to end.
Did you hear about Donald Gorske, who ate nearly 30,000 Big Macs, according to the Guinness Book of World Records? If you look up the word “superfan” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Gorske.
Jason Scheff wants to know what a surprise Daily Destination Fee is on his Marriott hotel bill. I’ve been getting a lot of similar complaints about this new fee and tracking it closely, so let’s take a minute to explore this new surcharge.
Panera just ordered me to delete the names, numbers and email addresses of its executives from this site. It’s not the only company that wants me to erase contact information.
But should I?
Too much stuff, not enough overhead bin space.
The problem is easy enough to define for air travelers. But the solution — despite new airline rules — is not.
As a 6-year-old, Josh Lippiner’s daughter, Emma, played hide-and-seek to win. So one day, when she vanished for more than a few minutes, her parents panicked.
“My wife and I couldn’t find her,” Lippiner remembers. “We completely freaked out.”
When Karen Korr wanted to change part of her European itinerary, she didn’t call Travelocity, her online travel agency. She didn’t send an email or a text message, either.
Instead, Korr, who works for a nonprofit organization in San Diego, clicked on Travelocity’s Facebook page and sent the company an instant message. She asked whether she could make arrangements to stay in Lagos, Portugal, for a few extra days.
