🌧️ Is this the fall of consumer rights? — The rain hasn’t let up in Seoul since Friday, but I’ve been occupied with a different kind of fall—the decline of your consumer rights.

It looks like the bots have taken over the entire process. Today’s featured article is about a reader who got hacked, then spent two weeks trying to reach a person at PayPal who could return her $125.

Over on Backchannel, we shared our storm stories yesterday. That was fun! (No bots allowed.)

In Members Only, the FTC rewrote its warning about packages you didn’t order, and the new version tells you to keep the merchandise and never scan the code inside the box. I’ll have all the details over the wall.

Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report

Every customer should have the right to reach a human
A PayPal chatbot offered a reader a live agent four times and never connected her. States now require a person to sign off when an algorithm denies your health care, but nothing covers your money.

Why a hurricane that misses you can still ruin your vacation, and what to do about it
A storm a thousand miles away can ground your flight, and a resort that reopens too fast can hide mold and rotted decking. Insurers stop covering a storm the moment it gets a name.

My Alfa Romeo’s dashboard is falling apart and the warranty won’t cover it
A 2019 Stelvio with a dashboard pulling away from the air vents, and a service contract that covers interior surfaces damaged by wear and tear. Mopar denied the claim, citing an exclusion list that appears nowhere in the policy.

Help! Delta downgraded us and refused to pay for a place to sleep
Two passengers over 75 missed their connection in Atlanta and rented a nap room in the terminal on an agent’s advice. Delta denied the reimbursement, then downgraded the Comfort+ seats they had paid for.

Avis said she smoked in her rental car, but she had an alibi
A $450 deep cleaning fee for smoke damage, backed by photos of what looked like water spots. Both women in the car are breast cancer survivors, and neither smokes.

No-service summer: Why your vacation feels so cheap (but costs so much)
A first-class cabin with no meal and a $500 hotel room with no coffee maker. Companies cut service instead of raising prices after the pandemic, then found no reason to bring it back.

A child wouldn’t buckle up, so Porter Airlines canceled the entire flight
A crew found a young child standing on a seat after the plane pushed back in Victoria, British Columbia. The airfield closed at 12:30 a.m., everyone deplaned, and the airline still hasn’t said which category it filed the cancellation under.

How long do I have to wait at the border in Europe?

Israel Blatman asked whether registering for EES once means doing the whole thing again at the next border. It doesn't, and I’ll explain why in my answer on Backchannel. Has EES held you up in Europe this summer? Join the discussion.

Yesterday’s hurricane story drew a lot of comments about Cancel For Any Reason coverage. AJPeabody said it should spell out that CFAR doesn't pay everything back, and he's right—it's 50 to 75 percent. Tim took the conversation off hurricanes entirely, remembering a thunderstorm in northern Florida that dropped a tree branch across the entrance road and canceled the funeral he'd flown in for. The storm that wrecks your trip usually doesn't have a name. What weather has ruined your travel plans?