But it should have NEVER done this!

So, I'm Scott and I've been with Elliot for many many years (back to ~2002). Elliott once helped me (personally) with a British Airways lounge case (in the early nineties). I now have an issue with Bank of America changing account numbers in bill-pay and EFF setup. I've been a customer there (BofA) since 1987, and they do recognize that when I call or walk in. They have always helped me with issues, for over 40 years. I recently set up an EFT transfer to my own Fidelity Cash Management Account, which UMB (the bank) manages for them. I manually typed in the account number twice. Bank of America moved a "3" to the wrong position in the account number, and 2K is gone to a random account at UMB. Eventually BofA sent me a letter asking me to waive liability so they could get my money back, I signed and sent it back by email (they supplied), with some manual corrections to their preprinted letter (initialed and dated by me, to fix inaccuracies about how it came to be). I've heard nothing, but I will call again to make sure they got the email. They have so far ignored the fact that I asked for confirmation of receipt. The incorrect transfer happened at the end of July and I reported the error within a week, when the money failed to arrive in my own account at Fidelity.

What now? Are there legal rights I need to preserve and what is the timing?

I mentioned this has happened before. It was a little different. About a year ago I sent >10K to my own HELOC account at Third Federal Savings, using BofA Bill Pay. I pay Third Federal monthly with BofA, as I have done so for many many years, so I know the account number is correct in BofA's system. Apparently, when they need to pay more than 10K, they mail a check to Third Federal (why, I have no idea). But, when they sent that paper check, they added a digit to the account number, and Third Federal sent the payment back to BofA, since it was an invalid account number. But ,Someone at Third Federal dug deeper and realized it belonged to me. They sent me an image of the check BofA sent them. It PROVES that BofA screwed up the account number, which they have used successfully for many years. There was no harm in that case, since I was able to repay Third Federal, using my Fidelity account, before it was due, and Third Federal promptly returned the funds to BofA. The current case is different since no one has voluntarily refunded me.

Now what? I know the account number where it went at UMB. Does anyone have a contact for UMB? Apologies I have not checked Elliott's resources yet since I don't know what the next step should be? BofA even referenced hiring a lawyer in their letter, if I didn't want them helping.

BofA claims in their letter that they did nothing wrong, but they never collected the data they need (from me) to even evaluate that claim.

But did the airline go too far this time?

Has anyone found a work around to get realistic sunset photos with an Iphone? When taking a shot with nice pinks, the pinks turn to orange. I am told that this is new technology. Any of the work arounds I have tried (exposure changes, using RAW) have not changed anything. Any ideas - maybe just pull out the real camera...

I'm working on a story about the habits American travelers carry overseas — but shouldn't.

For example, tipping in countries that never wanted tips, expecting English at the counter, wearing beach clothes into mosques, talking at a volume that clears a café.

What are the things Americans do abroad now that don't go over well? How has the current political climate changed how those habits get received?

I want to hear from Americans who realized too late that something they did was inappropriate. Where were you, and what happened? If you've changed how you tip, dress or introduce yourself in the past year, tell me what prompted it.

Human travel advisors and non-AI itineraries are "in." But why?

How airlines could soon avoid covering your hotel during maintenance delays. This is an important one.

Don't tell anyone, but September is the best time to visit Southern Germany. The weather is nice and the people here seem relieved that tourist season is over. Here in Freiburg, the university is not yet in session, so it's quiet and mostly peaceful. We are really loving it here (I'm working on a story about sustainability, which is a thing). Iden (pictured above) is testing the German beers, which are excellent.

They also have very friendly cats here. We met a new friend on our way down the mountain from today's hike.

The people who are ensuring your rights as an air traveler may be on the airline industry's payroll.

Here are two hotels that are doing things differently.

On a recent flight home on a United A321neo, I noticed the Lav had a basin that sticks out making it so narrow that I find it hard to believe that the large number of big sized Americans would not find it extremely difficult to sit down.

I've been planning a trip and on several different airline websites, I've found quotes for a round trip where I picked on outbound flight and then going to their list of return flights on the day that was entered in the initial form only to find additional costs of hundreds of dollars for all of the possible return flights they offer.

I've seen explanations of fares that don't exist any more on secondary booking sites due to cached information. But these have been on the carrier's own site and the same fares come up when checking again a day later.

The A-Team won't stand for it. Here's what we did.

These car rental cases just keep piling up. Here's another one.

My spouse and I have both had fraudulent Medicare claims for urinary catheters and durable medical equipment. The most recent fraudulent claim, to our surprise, had the name of a physician who is actually practicing in Mesa, Arizona, where we live. It was a physician we had never heard of and my husband had never seen by.

Neither of us have ever received the supplies nor have we been billed nor do we have a medical need for them

I check our Medicare summaries every month and we have always immediately reported the fraudulent claims to Medicare so far none of the money has been clawed back, and the claims continue to appear under our names. We’ve been advised that we will never know the outcome of the claims unless the claim disappears, which means that the money has been recouped

As your article stated these bad actors, simply rebilled under a different company name and address when claims do get denied.

We are fortunate that our secondary carrier always denies the claims when sent to them for processing after Medicare has paid their portion

I enjoyed this podcast and found the wordplay creative and entertaining! We can all be glad to not be the star of this particular show. Sometimes you just have to chill out. There are so many serious newscasts about real-world problems that this was a nice change and a chance to smirk instead of cry at the news.

Is this some kind of scam?

You may have without even knowing it. Details are in today's newsletter.

Hello from LH 713, which is somewhere over the mountains of Kazakhstan at the moment. This is a grueling 13-hour flight, but I just found out that it could have been two hours shorter if we could have used the Siberian corridor. The war in Russia has made that impossible, so we're getting the scenic tour of Georgia, the Black Sea, Turkey and a few other Eastern European countries.

Every time we do this flight, and pass over the mountains, I say to myself, "This is so beautiful. We have to come back." And I know we will — eventually.

But for now, we're headed to Frankfurt. We'll stagger into our hotel room at about 8 p.m. local time, running on about two hours of sleep. It will be early morning in Seoul. Some say I write better with less sleep. (I think that was just a backhanded compliment by one of my editors, come to think of it.)

Ah, the perils of travel. But I'd rather be on a marathon flight than sitting at home doing nothing.

Tip: Bring your own food if you take a 12+ hour flight like this. That's especially true if you have dietary needs. You can't rely on the special meals.

Why the A-Team couldn't just look up a case, and what it means for your next consumer problem.

For the past few weeks, we brought you the consumer cases we successfully resolved. Today we look at the cases we completely failed. Welcome to the F files. These are the spectacular pile-ups and disasters that we could not fix. This episode contains explicit language and adult themes, so listener discretion is advised.

If I’m flying British Airways, how do I get my TSA pre-check information onto my ticket? I don’t see any place to put it in my profile with them and I haven’t been able to reach a real person to ask. I have global entry, not just the pre-check, but again, I can’t find an option for adding a known traveler number. Does anyone know? Thanks!

I learned the hard way several years ago that Aero Mexico requires that carry-on baggage weigh no more than 10 kilos. That figure includes BOTH my roll-aboard AND my personal item, together! If it weighs more than 10 kg all told, we are obligated to check the bag at a cost. This year I will be traveling on Aero Mexico, and learned that the policy still exists. I will strive to keep my carry-on as light as possible, and stuff my pockets with my electronics, etc. Is this a ploy to reap more profits by forcing travelers to check even small bags?

Take our poll. I think we all know the answer ...

I haven’t seen any that have a pre-existing condition waiver. Does that exist for annual policies?