Christopher Elliott

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 three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and 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 X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter.
When tragedy struck Kent Schroeder tried to cancel his Sandals trip to Jamaica. If he can't get a refund, can he at least give the trip away?

Sandals will not let me cancel my trip. Can I give it away?

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Last fall, Kent Schroeder and his wife were looking forward to spending their anniversary at a Sandals resort in Jamaica. Then tragedy struck and his wife unexpectedly died. But when he tried to cancel the Sandals trip, he encountered an unbending company policy that wouldn’t allow for a refund — even under the terrible circumstances.
 
But why wouldn’t Sandals allow the grieving widower to give the trip away to his daughter? That’s what Schroeder wants the Elliott Advocacy team to find out. 

What can you do to avoid getting a bad hotel room? Here are some simple tips from an expert to make sure that you don't find yourself in one.

How can you avoid a bad hotel room?

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What can you do to avoid being assigned a bad hotel room?

For Michael Rewers, he knows that he increases his chances of avoiding a bad hotel room by staying away from “free” hotel vouchers – and at least one four-star hotel.

Rewers, who travels frequently as a sales rep for a European energy company, recently tried to redeem a hotel coupon for a weekend at an upscale hotel in Warsaw. “Big mistake,” he recalls.