(Sorry, don't intend to minimize problems, but it's LIFE.)

No kidding!

I had a doctor's appt. in San Francisco and the doctor I was supposed to go to see cancelled the appt. after I bought a r/t ticket to go there and see her.

I was told by American Express that being it was no fault of mine, I should receive a refund for that ticket (ha!).

To make a long story short, I was SOL on that deal.

The $800.00 I paid for that ticket was never refunded to me.

I spent a lot of time trying to get recourse but never got a thing back.

If I'd just given up to begin with, I would have been way ahead of the game.

to a cleaning company absolutely scamming me. I just left it but I knew that was not the way I usually go about things. I usually try to fight to get my money back. Maybe these people do know something because every fight is a horror and maybe they've found that it is just not worth it. Like you just said.

Sounds like a personal assistant gig.

and I asked my sister-in-law to take over for me. She did all this stuff, settling disputes after waiting hours on the phone, paying my bills online and giving me checks to sign. Obviously I trusted her implicitly.

Is there anyone in your life you could trust like that. You'd have to be willing to allow him or her to know all your business, but believe me, it was worth it.

After a couple of months, my mind cleared enough for me to take things over, but thank god for her.

If you are desperate, you might try asking a lawyer if you could hire someone on their staff for a couple of hours as needed to help you through this. It would be a good connection for you to make, so you'd have someone to turn to when this stuff comes up again. You could ask your doctor, too, or someone at your church. It's been my experience that people are happy to help, really and truly. You just have to find someone you can trust.

My senior center is a great resource.

Is overwhelming when you're ill. Purposely so, imo. There is no customer service now other than Publix and Discover.

Mr X does a lot of this for me. Once. I had a ticket I had to get money back for cancelation in the 1990s. No internet. I finally wrote a complaint letter to the CEO, it was taken care of immediately, and his assistant called to apologize.

About 7 yrs ago I got bumped on a flight. Mr X called and threatened to post it on FB. The airlines cut me a $1000.00 check right there to shut me up.

Call your library for the CEOs name and address or number

Kudos to Mr. X!