Author: Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott
About the Author Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes weekly columns for King Features Syndicate, USA Today, Forbes and the Washington Post. He also publishes Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter. Read more of Christopher's articles here.

Can I get a refund for this rescheduled show from Vivid Seats?

By Christopher Elliott

Can Vivid Seats keep your money for a canceled show? Douglas Himberger would really like to know. Before the pandemic, he paid $689 for two tickets to a Jerry Seinfeld show in Atlantic City. The event kept getting postponed — and now he can’t get his money back.

Vivid Seats, a ticket exchange and resale company, should have refunded the money a long time ago. So why is it holding on to Himberger’s money? And what does that mean for the rest of us who are trying to get our money back for shows that were canceled during the pandemic?

Himberger’s case is about more than a company that tries to keep your money. It’s also about credit card disputes and when to use them.

Aegean Airlines refunds one ticket but not the other. What’s going on here?

By Christopher Elliott

Benn Karne and his wife, Marilyn, had tickets from Athens to Bologna, Italy, on May 14, 2020. Not that it did them much good. Like almost every other flight operating at the start of the pandemic, Aegean Airlines canceled it and eventually offered them a refund.

But then Aegean Airlines did something very odd: It refunded only one of the tickets.

Now the Karnes are trying to find out what went wrong with their second refund and how they can fix it. But their odyssey tells a much bigger story about the patently irresponsible behavior of airlines during the pandemic. You’re probably familiar with stories like this. The additional context will infuriate you.

She returned her merchandise to Pottery Barn. But where’s her refund?

By Christopher Elliott

It’s been more than a year since Virginia Cepero returned the dining room chairs she bought on the Pottery Barn website. The company insists it refunded her money months ago, but Cepero can’t find it.

What do you do when it’s a company’s word against yours? And how do you defend your position when the company throws up a favorite defense tactic?

The deeper I dug into Cepero’s case, the more convinced I became that corporate America’s favorite new strategy for keeping your money is still largely a secret. I’ll tell you about it in a second. I’ll also reveal how to avoid a chaotic return like this and get your money back from Pottery Barn.

Can Frontier Airlines keep my nonrefundable fees after my sister died?

By Christopher Elliott

When Christine Schaefer booked a nonrefundable roundtrip ticket from Philadelphia to West Palm Beach, Fla., on Frontier Airlines, she had every intention of being on that plane. After all, she was flying to South Florida to spend Christmas with her sister, Madeline.

Sadly, it didn’t happen. Just before the flight, Schaefer’s sister died.

Schaefer canceled her reservation and requested a refund from Hopper, her online travel agency. She also asked Frontier to return her fees for luggage and early boarding.

You’ll never guess who said yes and who refused. Then again, if you read this site frequently, maybe you can guess.

Lufthansa can’t charge me $1,360 for this change! Can it?

By Christopher Elliott

All Gabriele Stahl wanted was to modify her Lufthansa flight to Germany. And all the airline wanted from her was $1,360 — an unreasonable amount to fix the flight, she says.

But who’s right? Stahl’s case is a teachable moment about flight cancellations, airline logic, and the power of persistence.

Also, it’s a fun opportunity to extract a response from an airline that hates, hates, hates appearing in this column.

The MLB app doesn’t work on this Samsung TV! Can I get a refund?

By Christopher Elliott

All Tom Moran wanted was a television that would be compatible with the MLB app. So he asked a Samsung representative if the TV he was considering would allow him to watch Major League Baseball through the app.  The agent says it would — but it turns out it won’t. Can he get a refund?

Question

I went on Samsung’s website in November 2020 and requested a recommendation from their salesperson for a television that is compatible with the MLB app. I have a copy of the chat. So I purchased a 58″ Class TU7000 Crystal UHD 4K Smart TV based on the company’s written recommendation.

But I could not test the television until April 2021, when the baseball season started. And when I did, the app didn’t work.

Where’s my airline ticket refund from GotoGate? It’s been eight months

By Christopher Elliott

When SriLankan Airlines cancels the flights for Joseph Obiora Ezezue’s wife and son, he requests a refund. But the airline refers him to his online agency, GotoGate. And it doesn’t help him. Who is responsible for getting his money back?

Question

I purchased two airline tickets from GotoGate for my wife and son in late 2020. The tickets were for a one-way trip with SriLankan Airlines from Guangzhou, China, to Kigali, Rwanda. Sadly, the airline canceled the flight. I bought new tickets with Qatar Airways for my family to return to Kigali.

He ordered three tickets from Vivid Seats but only got two

By Christopher Elliott

Mark Kovac pays for three tickets to an NBA game but receives only two from Vivid Seats. Where’s the third ticket, and can the company make the assist before game time?

Question

I ordered and paid for three tickets to the Mavs-Wizards game through Vivid Seats. But the seller only delivered two tickets to my Ticketmaster account.

I’ve been trying to resolve this issue for six weeks but to no avail. I’ve spoken with 12 customer service representatives (I have their names). I begged them to help me, but all I got was lip service from the customer support team.

He got into an accident in his Avis car. Why won’t the company take back the vehicle?

By Christopher Elliott

When Mayank Kumar gets into an accident in his Avis rental car, he does everything in his power to return the vehicle to the company. But nothing seems to be working, and now Avis is asking about its car.

Question

I recently rented a vehicle from Avis in Seattle and had an accident while visiting Mount Rainier National Park. A local towing company towed the car away. I reported this to Avis and gave them the towing company’s contact number and address.
An Avis representative said they would work with the towing company to recover the vehicle from them and that I didn’t need to do anything. I still followed up with them almost every day for two weeks to ensure they had the car.

Avis hasn’t recovered the vehicle yet, and it is still at the towing company’s facility. An Avis representative keeps telling me the case is being processed and that the car will be recovered soon.

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