The travel problems category at Elliott Advocacy covers a wide range of travel-related troubleshooting. We mediate all types of issues that a traveler might encounter.
Eric Simon’s football team lost the big game — and then he lost part of his vacation rental refund, too. He wants to know: Can I cancel my Vrbo rental and get my money back if the owner agrees to it? Or does the vacation rental site get to decide? That’s a great question on the day after the Super Bowl, or any day that you find yourself $3,434 lighter in your bank account.
Andy McNamara thought he’d found a bargain through Priceline on a suite in Las Vegas. For just $116 a night, a 75 percent price reduction from the published rate, he and his wife would stay in the 1,000-square foot Carioca Suite at the Rio All-Suite & Casino Hotel. But Priceline gave McNamara the wrong room — and it wanted to keep his money, too.
When Pam Anderson and her boyfriend Marc Strenk visited Dubai this fall, they wanted to see the famous fountains. The couple thought they’d found a perfect tour on Viator through TripAdvisor — until a “system error” forced them to pay for their tickets three times.
That’s right, three times.
After Janet Davis cancels her vacation rental, she expects a $360 refund. So why is the owner refusing to return it?
Norman Fitton and his wife paid $2,615 for a vacation rental in Kitty Hawk, N.C., from Sept. 7 to 14. Unfortunately, they had an unexpected visitor: Hurricane Dorian. The storm made landfall at Cape Hatteras, forcing the Fittons to ask: If your vacation is ruined by a hurricane, will it be covered by trip insurance?
The short answer is: sometimes.
There’s a grasshopper invasion in Las Vegas. And people like Julie Peterson want to know if her travel insurance covers grasshopper invasions.
Angela Williams flew from Washington to Atlanta for a funeral this summer. But during the trip, a Spirit Airlines baggage handler created another casualty — her new luggage. Now she wants to know: Will Spirit ever pay for the damaged luggage?
When Kathryn Stewart rented a car in Munich, Germany, she assumed it would cost $260. After all, that’s what her car rental company had quoted her. She didn’t expect to pay $800 in extra car rental insurance. But she did — and now she wants help with a refund.
Jim McClenathan was looking forward to a fishing trip to Montana this summer with a group of friends. But then the men found a better deal and asked for a refund. Even though the fishing lodge promised to quickly return the money, the checks haven’t arrived yet.
Is this fishing trip refund dead in the water?
Christopher Benson and his wife, Betty, planned one last trip to Paris together. They booked air and hotel through Orbitz and were careful to also include the online agency’s vacation waiver option. That’s because Benson’s wife had cancer, and there was a small chance that the couple would have to cancel the trip so she could seek additional treatment.
