INSURANCE

Hotel luggage theft: “He looked like a professional”

Athena Foley and her husband wish they’d never stayed at the Hotel Ändra. When they checked into the Seattle boutique hotel this summer, one of their bags was stolen after they surrendered it to the bellhop.

Foley lost $1,000 worth of items, including clothes, eyeglasses and medicine. She wants the property to compensate her for the loss. But today’s “Is this enough compensation?” case is not an open-and-shut case, as you’ll see in a second.
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149 comments

Can this trip be saved? If “everything is covered” why are you charging me for this flat tire?

One of the most common car rental complaints I get — no, the most common — involves travelers who declined the optional collision-damage waiver and ended up with what what they believe to be a fraudulent claim.

But it rarely goes the other way — which is to say, having the insurance but then not being covered.

Well, meet Tom Brouillette, who rented a car from Rent-A-Wreck in Albuquerque, NM.
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51 comments

Case dismissed: “I feel that the insurance is useless”

Marcel Meth’s wife and daughter had plans to visit his recently widowed sister-in-law in Minnesota. As a precaution, they bought a travel insurance policy through Access America.

But they bought the wrong policy.

“Four days before my wife and daughter were to leave for Minnesota, my sister-in-law called us and told us that her son was hospitalized and that he would be remaining in the hospital for a week or more,” he says. “In response to this, my wife needed to cancel the vacation. We obtained all the necessary documentation and filed it with the Access America. They immediately denied the claim, saying that the reason for hospitalization was not covered by the policy.”
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67 comments

Ridiculous or not? A “false choice” at the car rental counter

As a frequent car rental customer, Parker Mann has endured countless sales pitches for optional insurance. But recently, the hard sell efforts have crossed a line, he says.

“The latest gimmick is to give the customer a false choice with the question, ‘Do you want the full insurance or the basic?’ — the implication being that the insurance was required,” he says. “I’ve heard this line essentially word for word from three agents at two rental companies in the past year.”

Just in case you were wondering, insurance is an option on practically every car. Asking which policy a customer wants implies it’s mandatory.
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49 comments

The Travel Troubleshooter: She declined insurance, but then signed for it

Question: My wife recently rented a car in Columbus, Ohio, from Dollar Rent A Car. When I made the reservation for her, I specifically told them we did not want their extra insurance coverage.

My wife is not a frequent traveler so she called me at the rental car counter that day to ask me if she should accept their insurance coverage charges that they were trying to add to the contract. Since our current auto insurance policy covered rental cars, I told her not to accept their charges.

She specifically told the Dollar Rental car agent in Columbus to not include the $20 a day insurance coverage on her rental agreement. However, these charges were added.

I have contacted Dollar regarding an insurance charge of $104, but they refuse to make any type of adjustment or issue a refund. The customer service person at Dollar said my wife’s electronic signature when she checked out the car is proof that she wanted the insurance coverage. The Dollar counter in Columbus has a small electronic signature unit, and my wife would have had to scroll through many, many pages to see various charges via this tiny signature box unit.

What steps can I take to get a refund? — Ted Van Anne, Colleyville, Texas

Answer: The technology your wife used at the time of her rental should have helped her instead of leaving her with an overcharge of $104.
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53 comments