BILL

Can you trust the cruise lines’ new passenger “bill of rights”?

Hellen/Shutterstock
Hellen/Shutterstock

Maybe it was the string of customer-service disasters, starting with the Costa Concordia tragedy last year and leading up to the recent Carnival Triumph “poop” cruise, on which passengers were left adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for five days without working toilets.

Maybe it was the threat of government regulation from Sen. Charles Schumer (D.-N.Y.), a vocal critic of the cruise industry, that made it move.

Then again, maybe we should just take the cruise industry at its word on its decision, announced just before the Memorial Day holiday, to introduce a passenger “bill of rights.”
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20 comments

My phone doesn’t work — do I still have to pay my bill?

sergign/Shutterstock
sergign/Shutterstock
Question: I’m having a major issue with Verizon Wireless. They’re charging me for a month when I ended up having to return the phone because the call quality was so poor. I paid their restocking fee, and yet they still sent me a bill for an entire month’s worth of service.

I have a major issue with being charged for service that was completely horrible — call quality, dropped calls, etc, could barely hear my callers. Yet they still believe these service charges of $106 are valid.

Now they have sent my account to collections and I can’t seem to make any progress with anyone in customer service. They keep transferring me to “financial services” and then back to collections, saying the charges are valid.
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24 comments

Oh no, I’m stuck with two car rental bills

evening roadQuestion: My husband and I recently rented a car via AutoEurope for a trip to Germany and the Czech Republic. We received a pre-paid voucher for a rental from Hertz.

When we landed in Munich, Germany, a Hertz representative told us our reservation had been canceled. After some delay, checking on his computer and his garage, he assured us that we could obtain another smaller car. He said it would cost slightly less than our original rental amount, but that we would have to take up the refund of the original reservation with Auto Europe.

My husband signed a new charge slip (of course, all in German) and we were glad to finally be on our way. The Hertz agent only gave us a credit card receipt, but no rental agreement.

While still in Europe, my husband sent an email to AutoEurope, letting it know about the cancellation. We returned the car without incident.
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52 comments

Help, my CenturyLink bill is $#!*#d up — can you fix this thing?

Question: I’m trying to get a billing problem fixed with CenturyLink, but am having no luck. I recently signed up for a CenturyLink-DirecTV bundle without phone service through the CenturyLink website. I agreed to pay a rate of $24.95 a month.

When I got my first bill, I saw several fees and charges I didn’t recognize, including an “Internet” charge of $34.95 and a related one-time fee of $5.95.

I called CenturyLink and was advised that the $24.95 rate was only valid for a bundle package of home phone and Internet. I showed a representative the order form on the CenturyLink website, but even after I did, the company refused to adjust my bill.
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57 comments

Charged for an online class I didn’t take

Not going back to school./ Photo by Harry Doyle – Flickr Creative Commons
Question: My daughter registered online for a class with the University of Phoenix and filled out a form for financial aid. She decided that the online course was not for her and never took the class.
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38 comments