Traveller used ChatGPT as lawyer. Claims to have won Rs 2 lakh on ‘non-refundable trip'. But Reddit demands proof
When most people hear "non-refundable," they give up and count their losses. But one Reddit user turned to an unlikely source for help—not a lawyer, not a paralegal, but
OpenAI
's ChatGPT. What unfolded was a surprising story where artificial intelligence went toe-to-toe with rigid corporate policies, winning back a hefty $2,500 (Rs 2.13 lakh) in travel refunds for a cancelled trip to Medellín,
Colombia
.
The traveller had booked a hotel and an international flight through Expedia without cancellation insurance. When a personal medical situation,
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
(GAD), forced him to cancel, both the hotel and the airline initially refused to budge. The user had a doctor's note, but that didn't matter. Expedia confirmed that his booking was non-refundable, and the hotel flat-out denied any refund, even on compassionate grounds.
ChatGPT to the rescue
The user asked ChatGPT-4 to step in. First, the AI combed through Expedia's terms, hotel policies, and the airline's refund rules. Then, it crafted a detailed, professional letter citing medical hardship and advocating for an exception. The hotel, swayed by the AI-generated appeal, reversed its decision and processed a full refund.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Play War Thunder now for free
War Thunder
Play Now
Undo
But the airline was more stubborn. Their policy allowed refunds only in the event of death or terminal illness, mental health issues didn't qualify. Again, ChatGPT was asked to escalate. The AI responded with a firm, persuasive letter arguing that dismissing GAD as an invalid medical condition amounted to discrimination and outlined how the condition could significantly impact air travel. Within an hour of sending the letter, the airline replied: the refund would be processed.
The user credited ChatGPT with saving him from hiring a paralegal and losing $2,500. More importantly, the experience highlighted how AI is no longer just a productivity tool, it's becoming a powerful personal advocate. 'If I didn't use ChatGPT, I would've walked away with nothing,' the user shared. 'This AI went to bat for me and didn't stop until I won.'
How did Reddit react?
A user said, "Redact the personal info and post screenshots of the emails. We're all curious to learn ourselves, and verify the authenticity of the post." Another commented, "Just curious about your prompts at this point. And any standard parameters you have set. And which model you used for this." One said, "I'd be more inclined to believe with screen shots, with personal info removed of course."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
RBI's 'bold' 50 bps cut to reduce interest rates, improve credit access: India Inc
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The RBI's decision to slash the benchmark rate by a "bold" 50 basis points will lead to lower interest rates and improved credit access for borrowers, India Inc said on Friday, asserting that the move will support economic growth amid global they opined that by reverting its stance to neutral from accommodative, the central bank has signalled that it may now pause to assess the full transmission of these cuts, before considering further easing of interest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday cut interest rates by 50 basis points (bps), the third consecutive reduction, to 5.5 per central bank has also unexpectedly reduced the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks by a steep 100 basis points, which will unlock Rs 2.5 lakh crore liquidity to the banking system for lending to productive sectors of the Vardhan Agarwal, President at FICCI, said, "FICCI welcomes RBI's bold and proactive move to slash the repo rate."This front-loaded rate cut sends a strong signal of the RBI's commitment to supporting growth, especially at a time when the Indian economy is navigating multiple headwinds -- from trade uncertainties and geopolitical tensions to financial market volatility," Agarwal Alexander Muthoot, MD of Muthoot Finance , said, "For NBFCs, this is an encouraging move as it creates a favourable environment by lowering borrowing costs and extending affordable credit to under-served communities." "The move, coupled with a lowered inflation outlook, is likely to support domestic consumption and stimulate credit demand in the coming quarters. Overall, we view this as a timely and positive intervention that can support a stronger credit cycle in FY26," Muthoot Banerjee, Partner and Leader - Economic Advisory at PwC India, said the policy rate easing, combined with the liquidity increase for banks when system liquidity is already comfortable, is likely to add a second engine to the consumption growth flight that is anticipated to be already in flight from the income tax cuts taking effect in FY26."With inflation under control, supporting growth is the main objective, especially considering the uncertainty in global trade. The RBI continues to peg FY26 growth at 6.5 per cent, but clearly sees a need to stimulate private demand and capital formation. This (liquidity) gives banks more headroom to transmit lower rates and improve credit flow - both to consumers and businesses," Vijay Kuppa, CEO of InCred Money, Goswami, CIO & MD - India Fixed Income at Franklin Templeton, said the RBI's bold move has surprised markets and underscores a clear pivot towards supporting growth amid subdued economic momentum and easing inflation."Upasna Bhardwaj, Chief Economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank , said, "The higher-than-expected repo rate cut comes along with a shift in the stance back to neutral. This clearly points towards future decisions being more data-dependent, given the significant global uncertainties."Gaura Sengupta - Chief Economist at IDFC FIRST Bank , said, "The front-loading of the rate cut action plus CRR cut indicates focus is on enhancing the transmission of monetary policy. The neutral stance indicates that the bar for further rate cut is higher but isn't completely off the table. In the next few policies, we expect the RBI to remain on pause".The RBI MPC decision will support India's growth amidst continued global volatilities, Hemant Jain, President at PHDCCI, the latest reduction, the RBI has cut interest rates by 100 basis points in 2025, starting with a quarter-point reduction in February - the first cut since May 2020 - and another similar-sized cut in rate cut comes as the Indian economy slowed to a four-year low of 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year that ended March. RBI projected the economy to grow by the same measure in the current financial year that started on April 1, as rising trade tensions following US President Donald Trump's tariff policies provide central bank lowered its inflation projection to 3.7 per cent for 2025-26 from 4 per cent earlier.
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
RBI MPC meet: Central bank cuts CRR by 1%; to unlock Rs 2.5 lakh crore to bank funds by December
NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a 1% cut in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), releasing Rs 2.5 lakh crore into the banking system, in a major move to boost liquidity aimed at supporting lending to productive sectors of the economy. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The CRR reduction will be implemented in four equal phases and will bring the reserve requirement down to 3% by November 29, 2025. This allows banks to maintain a lower level of 3% liquid cash reserve with the RBI, providing them additional funds for lending activities. The last time the RBI made such a significant CRR cut was on March 27, 2020, when it slashed the ratio by 1% and the repo rate by 75 basis points in response to the Covid-19 crisis. "The Reserve Bank remains committed to provide sufficient liquidity to the banking system. To further provide durable liquidity, it has been decided to reduce the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 100 basis points (bps) to 3% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in a staggered manner during the course of the year," RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said. The implementation will occur in four 25 bps installments, beginning September 6, October 4, November 1 and November 29, 2025, Malhotra continued, while announcing the bi-monthly MPC outcome. "The cut in CRR would release primary liquidity of about Rs 2.5 lakh crore to the banking system by December 2025. Besides providing durable liquidity, it will reduce the cost of funding of the banks, thereby helping in monetary policy transmission to the credit market," he added. Enhanced credit availability will support economic growth, which decreased to a four-year low of 6.5% in FY'25. "I would like to reiterate that we will continue to monitor the evolving liquidity and financial market conditions and proactively take further measures, as warranted," he said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The previous CRR reduction of 50 basis points to 4% occurred in December 2024's MPC announcement, implemented in two 25 basis point instalments effective from December 14, 2024 and December 28, 2024. This action released Rs 1.16 lakh crore into the banking system, easing liquidity constraints. Earlier on May 4, 2022, RBI raised the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 4% to 4.5% during an unscheduled meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with the change taking effect from May 21 that year. However, the RBI kept the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) unchanged at 18%. Under the SLR rule, banks must hold 18% of their total deposits or net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in government securities. This requirement helps ensure banks have enough liquidity to meet withdrawal demands and maintain financial stability.
India.com
35 minutes ago
- India.com
This Indian billionaire publicly supports Vijay Mallya, calls former RCB and Kingfisher owner a ‘punching bag', his name is..
Vijay Mallya, who is facing fraud and money laundering charges had interacted with podcaster Raj Shamani recently. He spoke on all the topics he talked about for many years. The discussion about his podcast started surfacing on social media platforms this morning. While replying to Harsh Goenka's post Vijay Mallya claimed that the banks had recovered Rs 14,100 crores from him. In his post, Mallya thanked Goenka for speaking in his favour and added that he has been facing 'blatant discrimination'. Harsh Goenka's Post On Vijay Mallya Taking a part in ongoing discussion, Chairman of RPG Enterprises, Harsh Goenka stated, '' Vijay Mallya lived the high life, yes. Defaulted, yes. Unlike most others, his ₹9,000+ crore dues are now reportedly settled. Meanwhile, bigger defaulters walk free with much fatter haircuts from banks. If dues remain, the banks should clearly say so. If not, why is he still a political punching bag? Justice must be fair, not selective.'' Thank you Harsh. The Union Finance Ministry has confirmed in writing that Banks have recovered Rs 14,100 crores from me against a DRT judgement debt of Rs 6,203 crores. Why the blatant discrimination ? — Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) June 5, 2025 Vijay Mallya's Reaction On Post The former owner of Kingfisher Airlines and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wrote, '' Thank you Harsh. The Union Finance Ministry has confirmed in writing that Banks have recovered Rs 14,100 crores from me against a DRT judgement debt of Rs 6,203 crores. Why the blatant discrimination ?'' On this, Goenka responded with a folded hands emoticon. Netizens Reaction On Discussion User name Gargi Rawat said, '' This is true sir. But as you stated, he's a political punching bag.'' Another user named as Mahesh Poddar said, ''We often forget he created world class airline KINGFISHER in no time. Many airlines failed like this too. Appreciate your public stance.'' Disagreeing with them another user named Balkrishnan B R said, ''Just to remind you, Vijay Mallya is also walking free and still living the high life in the UK. UK is a safe haven for all our criminals.''
