Having worked in a customer service call center myself I greatly appreciated Sullivans’ advice to always, always be pleasant and courteous to the person who answers your call.  ( I know from my own experience that the people who answer calls generally have some leeway in how they handle each request and people who asked nicely for help tended to get courtesy refunds from me;  the one’s who were rude and unpleasant from the get go tended be the one’s who got read the part of the contract under which they owed the charges    Sullivan also advises that complaints to hotel companies, supermarkets and Internet service providers were most likely to  grant refund requests.   Complaints to airlines, cell phone companies and cable television providers are  much less likely to  result in refunds or waived charges and  complaining to these types of companies may be the least cost effective use of your time.

Overall, a very useful consumer guide.   Recommended.