Posted January 9, 2006 at 7:15 p.m.

CONTACT 4 (KRON) -- Sometimes when a merchant has your money, it can be very difficult to get a refund, unless you have the help of the Contact 4 team. Contact 4's Joe Ducey and his army of volunteers have gone to the rescue for several consumers in recent weeks. Here are a few examples.

Paying for travel up-front can be a problem, especially if you have to cancel and then want your money back.

"Show" from San Francisco told Joe she booked travel online but had to cancel. The cancellation came within the company's guidelines but she still couldn't get her money back. After a few calls from our Contact 4 team, Show had the nearly $350 returned to her account.

Jean in Sunnyvale had an unusual problem. She bought a gift card and paid $100. The charge appeared on her credit card statement, but the gift card never arrived. Jean called our Contact 4 team who urged her to push the credit card money. Eventually Jean had to turn to the District Attorney's office but she now has her C-Note back.

Ruby of San Francisco was part of the large number of people looking for travel deals on cruises. Joe says depending on the time of year, you can get good prices. But that's not what happened to Ruby.

Her Mom, who is a senior citizen, overpaid more than $478 for the cruise. The cruise line shipped her a check but before Ruby's Mother could cash it, she had a stroke. By the time she had recovered, the check had expired. Our Contact 4 team felt the money was hers so they guided Ruby and her Mom through the process and eventually the cruise line sent them another check.

If you need a refund and the company won't help, call our Contact 4 volunteers at 1-800-414-KRON.

(copyright 2006, KRON 4, All rights reserved.)