Dear John, I have a whole slew of friends and neighbors in my age-group, mid-50s, whose kids have menial, low-paying jobs. And the parents are absolutely drowning in college debt. And there is no end in sight.
At least for my $123,000 my daughter became an attorney and my son an airline pilot.
I cry every month writing the check, but at least I know my kids gave me a return on my investment. J.L.
Dear J.L. Okay, I’m going to say something upbeat here. Don’t hold your chest and keel over.
It’s always best to be counter-intuitive when it comes to education and the job market. Don’t send your kids to college to become nurses, for instance, just because there are jobs in that field when they are seniors in high school. By the time they are set to graduate college, there will be a glut of nurses because of parents who thought the way you did.
Let’s hope the same is true for college educations in general.
Just because college graduates aren’t getting jobs right now doesn’t mean people should stop sending their kids for a higher education. But they should keep close watch on the cost — which, incidentally, they should have been doing anyway.
Unless the economy is irreparably broken (and the jury still out on that), a college education will again be worthwhile — someday. Your neighbors’ and friends’ kids got unlucky. Their timing was bad.
But they’ll eventually persevere and succeed. At least let’s hope so. Because if we are losing a generation of college educated people to unemployment, then this country is in a lot more trouble than we can handle.
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When I received my credit card, there was an added fee of $35 for a “post tax booking fee.”
I refuse to pay. The credit card company is of little help. And OneTravel will not return my calls.
The total cost was $325.80, which we agreed upon, not an added $35. T. Q.
Dear T.Q. I called OneTravel and got nowhere. Then I called the real company behind this Web site — WK Travel Inc, Las Vegas. It was only then that I — got nowhere.
So it’s your turn to sit on the phone for a while. WK’s number is (702) 650-2719. You’ll get an answering machine but, I suspect, no call back.
There are three comments from customers on OneTravel’s Web site. None are complimentary — and, remember, this is the company’s own Web site.
One customer says: “Absolute Nightmare. I purchased tickets through this company (which also goes as OneTravel.com) for the holidays. Quite a while after receiving a confirmation, etc., I was called to be told that they didn’t in fact buy the tickets which I was “confirmed” for.
“This has left me paying close to double for the same flights elsewhere now that the dates are so much closer.”
Bottom line: If I were you, I’d call the Nevada Attorney General’s office. And I’d tell the credit card company that you are challenging the OneTravel billing. You might eventually get hit with finance charges if the bill is eventually deemed correct – but it’s the principle of the thing, not the money, that you are really fighting about.
And until you get a reasonable explanation from OneTravel, you should only use this service after dark — you know, it looks like one of those fly-by-night businesses.
Send your questions to Dear John, The N.Y. Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, N.Y., N.Y., 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.