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Consumer advocacy is a tough — and sometimes lonely — thing. If you’ve ever tried to advocate your own case, you probably know that.
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The law gives a credit bureau one hour. His took three months. (Illustration by Dustin Elliott)
❄️ The freeze that wouldn’t thaw — Federal law gives a credit bureau one hour to lift a freeze when you ask by phone, and three business days when you ask by mail. Robert Boisvert mailed his request twice, certified, with copies of his ID and his utility bills, and waited three months while a woman who turned out not to work for Experian offered to speed things along. Here’s how you can avoid a similar fiasco.
On Backchannel, Paul Ellis has watched Lowe’s deliver three dented refrigerators to his house in 17 days, and so has the whole neighborhood. Now what?
For Members Only: New Mexico’s attorney general wants to make it illegal for a booking site to set your price from what it knows about you, and to raise the penalty for breaking the state’s consumer law tenfold. How far could this reach your next hotel booking? — Christopher Elliott
FEATURED ARTICLE
Experian said his credit was unfrozen. So why couldn’t he buy a car?
Robert Boisvert, a police officer with a credit score above 800, sent Experian two certified letters, called, texted and emailed the chief executive to lift a freeze he had placed on his own credit report. Equifax and TransUnion lifted his without an argument. Experian told our advocates the freeze had come off the day he asked, three months earlier, and then mailed him a letter saying his account was inactive. So what was keeping him out?
OUR UNDERWRITER
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📌 Here’s what you missed this week
Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report
Experian said his credit was unfrozen. So why couldn’t he buy a car?
Robert Boisvert asked Experian to lift a credit freeze so he could finance a car, mailed two certified letters with copies of his ID and his utility bills and waited three months. Experian told our advocates the freeze had come off the day he asked, and the only letter that reached him said his account was inactive.
Travelers are facing more entry and exit fees than ever. Here’s what you need to know.
New Zealand charged Brian Clark about $70 to enter before he’d booked a room, Britain has raised the price of its entry permit twice since launch and the United States nearly doubled its own fee to $40.27. Fake government portals now outrank the real ones in search results, and the colleague who clicked the first result paid a markup for the same 72-hour wait.
These 7 phrases will doom your consumer complaint
A reader who said she’d been injured on a shopping trip answered our offer of help with a line of profanity, and her case went into the F-Files. Four other phrases turn up weekly in complaint letters, including a demand for pain and suffering that the Supreme Court foreclosed for international passengers in 1991.
Honest pricing works in travel. Just ask Airbnb.
U.S. airlines collected $2.1 billion in checked bag fees in the second quarter alone, and the industry says a fare that includes the bag and the seat would confuse travelers and push prices up. Airbnb moved to all-in pricing in April 2025 and its revenue rose 17% last quarter.
How Queenstown, New Zealand, is creating a greener adventure capital
Shotover Jet has built a prototype electric jet boat and can’t get it light enough to deliver the 360-degree spins its customers pay for. Charging a fleet would draw a megawatt on a river that floods up to 16 times a year, and the Ngāi Tahu iwi that owns the operation has told it to move off fossil fuel anyway.
My GE washer is a heavy metal drummer, but I didn’t buy tickets to the show
Six months after installation, a $1,856 GE Spacemaker washer still bangs into the walls of Laura Bartholomew’s Ventura, Calif., laundry room on every spin cycle. Five technicians ran controlled tests with no water or with four matching towels, reported the machine was working properly, and GE closed her case.
My tour operator promised a price lock — and then broke it
Michael Hughes prepaid a Spain and Portugal tour 10 months early under Overseas Adventure Travel’s Good Buy program, which advertises protection from cost increases. After Air France canceled his flight, OAT billed him $670 more and gave him two conflicting explanations for the charge.
OUR UNDERWRITER
Cavalry Elite Travel Insurance takes the worry out of travel by providing 24/7 access to medical and security professionals combined with the best medical evacuation and security extraction services. Cavalry gets you home safely when you need it most. Learn more at Cavalrytravelinsurance.com
💬 What you’re asking on Backchannel
This refrigerator doesn’t work!
Paul Ellis and his wife bought a refrigerator from Lowe’s on Labor Day at about 40 percent off, with free delivery, free haul-away and 18 months at no interest. That was 17 days ago, and the third-party crew Lowe’s uses has since brought three scratched and dented units to the house while the neighbors watched, and the store says it can’t control the contractor. Who owns the problem when the seller and the delivery company each point at the other? Here’s our team’s advice on Backchannel.
OUR UNDERWRITER
EMBARK Beyond is a luxury travel advisory dedicated to creating thoughtfully designed experiences that go beyond a destination. Focused first on client needs, we have built (and continue to build!) relationships with the world’s most sought-after lifestyle and fashion brands to open the world - beyond imagination - to our clients. Find out more at EMBARK Beyond.
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