Oct 29, 2009 9:10 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Crash Course
RIPON, Calif. (CBS13) ―
A Ripon man cancelled his family vacation to Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak, but when his trip insurance didn't cover the cancellation, he called Kurtis.
He paid extra for that trip insurance. It should cover the swine flu outbreak, right? He soon found out that was wrong.
"We like sunny and tropical beaches," says Mike Mayberry, Ripon resident.
Mike booked a family trip through Travelocity to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He paid more than $1,600 plus an extra $159.80 for trip insurance.
"It seemed like the bright thing to do, you know," said Mike. "You're traveling out of the country; you never know what's going to happen."
In the spring, just a few weeks after booking his trip, the swine flu outbreak hit Mexico. Mike was concerned.
His 13-year old daughter, Amanda, has a heart condition and 11-year old Alyssa already had two major kidney surgeries.
"For them to contract the flu and be quarantined in Mexico for 10 days, it was a health risk," says Mike.
Mike called Travelocity to cancel his flight, but was told to call Mexicana Airlines. He couldn't get through to them more than a week.
"It sounded like Mexicana was having a major meltdown," says Mike.
After 10 days, Mike finally spoke with a Mexicana representative, who told him his tickets are non-refundable.
He then filed a claim with the trip insurance company, BerkelyCare, and attached a letter from his daughters' doctor, but his claim was denied because his family wasn't sick when they cancelled.
"It was very frustrating," says Mike. "Everywhere I turned for help, I was getting shut down."
Mike disputed the charge with his credit card company, American Express and contacted the Better Business Bureau and several consumer web sites.
After five months, and a thick binder of emails and letters, he still couldn't get his money back.
"One night, my wife and I were watching the news and then Call Kurtis came on, we said, 'you know, hey, maybe we should go check that out'," says Mike.
We contacted Travelocity, who worked with the insurance company.
In an email, Travelocity tells us:
"Travel insurance doesn't normally cover fear or a governmental warning. It covers customers who become ill and are not able to travel."
Then Mike got a message from BerkelyCare, saying four checks were in the mail. The next day, they arrived; each check worth $413.09.
"To say we're getting four full-priced refunds the next day was just unbelievable. We were giddy; we couldn't believe it," says Mike.
Travelocity and BerkelyCare stepped up and took care of this. But here's the big lesson: trip insurance kicks in if you get sick, not because you can potentially get sick.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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