ASK: I’m writing a few recent Viator tour in Paris. I booked the Eiffel Tower Reserved Access Tour and the optional summit by lift tour for 4 people. The day before the tour, I received an e -mail, wherein the time of the tour was modified from 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. because they’ve problems within the Louvre.

When we arrived on the meeting point, the representative told me that it was a “mistake” – her mistake, not mine – and we couldn't do that tour. She said that my options were to pay one other 15 euros per person to get a tour that included the summit that day, or cancel the tour, receive a reimbursement and check out to book again for a later date.

We decided to pay the extra 60 euros because our schedule was crammed with time -controlled approvals for the remaining of the week.

Unknown for us, the Summit tours on the second level need to make a stopover to alter the elevators. Therefore, my group of 4 could easily be added to a summit tour and delivered to the second level without additional costs. We would have had no access to the summit, but we still didn’t reserve ourselves.

I requested a refund from the Viator customer support of the opposite 60 euros for the mysterious mistake, but without success. During my first call, a representative was told that “it would be implemented” and that Viator “had my back”. I then received an e -mail that indicated that I had requested a whole reimbursement of $ 305, which I didn’t do. I even sent a replica of my receipt for the 60 euros with my e -mail. Viator contested the reimbursement very narrowly twice.

I hope you’ll be able to understand what I consider for a really reasonable money request that I shouldn’t have spent.

ANSWER: Your Eiffel Tower must be operated on as planned. However, if it needed to be moved, the tour operator must have given them the newly planned tour at the identical price. If you pay more, a bait and switch feel very similar.

Viator is a platform that sells tours they usually are absolutely right – it must have had their back. It looks as if Viator crossed his wires with the tour operator and believed for some reason that they wanted a whole reimbursement for a tour that that they had already undertaken.

It seems that the tour operator didn’t follow the published guidelines of Viators who say that he should announce 24 hours before the beginning time. In fact, they were surprised by the offer to either pay or cancel them. Technically speaking, you possibly can have requested a whole refund, but who’s going all of the strategy to the Eiffel Tower and Braves all of those crowds after which fundamentally canceled because the worth for the tour has risen by 15 euros?

I list the names, numbers and e -mails of the Viator Manager on my website for consumer interest representation. Elliott.org. A brief, polite email can have brought you out of the cycle of robo wear, wherein you usually send you an identical form wherein a reimbursement request you might have never asked you might be rejected.

I contacted Viator in your name. Viator said they need to have received a notification for his or her reimbursement, and it reimbursed the 60 euros that that they had requested.

Originally published: February 28, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.

SAN JOSE – A heated legal battle over a residential tower in San Jose has dropped at light allegations of unsafe living conditions, including a scarcity of hot water, heating and air con, in addition to thefts and inadequate security measures.

The disturbing allegations are contained in legal documents filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court in reference to a dispute over past-due maintenance fees for a high-rise apartment constructing at 188 West St. James Street in downtown San Jose.

Litigation and real estate market woes have engulfed the west tower of the two-tower condominium complex at 188 West St. James. In April, nine condominiums were auctioned off for a staggering average price of $31,900 to assist the homeowners association recoup unpaid maintenance fees owed by the location's developer.

When a developer sells a condo, the brand new owner will likely be chargeable for paying ongoing monthly HOA fees. In this case, the developer is chargeable for paying maintenance fees on units that were built but not sold to a brand new owner.

FPP MB, a subsidiary of China-based Z&L Properties, has sued some HOA members living within the tower to stop the ultimate sale of the condos which are the topic of the foreclosure. On August 6, Santa Clara County Judge Amber Rosen issued a short lived restraining order to dam the sale for now.

On August 9, some members of the condominium association who lived within the tower filed documents claiming that there have been several problems within the west tower, where the condominium owners live and the apartments haven’t been sold. The east tower has never been occupied.

“The developer and the construction managers are threatening the health, safety and property of the homeowners,” three HOA members claim within the Aug. 9 grievance. The “construction managers” are several directors of the HOA board appointed by the developer. These directors, the lawsuit says, “have brought the building into a dangerous condition.”

The lobby was unsafe and never staffed in any respect times, homeowners association members claimed. The homeowners also claimed the developer did not secure the constructing's entry doors and garage doors, stopping them from closing properly.

“There were numerous thefts, including thefts of bicycles from the bicycle room, packages from the parcel room and personal items from residents’ storage rooms,” the lawsuit states.

Many doors were installed incorrectly in order that they may easily be opened from the surface, court documents say.

“The building's heating system, which provides hot water to the units, was not properly installed, maintained or serviced by the developer,” the HOA members alleged. “Sometimes there was no hot water and other times there was only boiling hot water.”

FPP MB, the corporate affiliated with the developer and owner of the 2 towers, responded that it was aware of the allegations regarding the deficiencies, defects and dangers within the constructing, in response to an announcement filed with the court on August 16 by the actual estate company.

“The applicants (the HOA members) allege that until recently, one of the three elevators was frequently out of service, that the building's heating system was not properly installed and maintained, that flooding occurs frequently in the underground parking garages, and that the heating and HVAC systems were not properly installed, tested or maintained,” FPP stated within the court filing. “All of these issues are being addressed.”

The exact timetable or procedure for correcting the deficiencies and problems was not immediately determined.

The homeowners also complained that some non-residents had occupied empty condominiums occasionally.

“The police were called to the building several times for security reasons, including thefts, outsiders sleeping in the hallways or occupying unoccupied apartments,” the constructing owners stated within the court filing.

The homeowners complained of their lawsuit that a number of the problems had been present for a while.

“Approximately 20 to 30 homeowners have complained that they have not had heat, air conditioning, or both for more than two years,” the homeowners said within the court filing, and residents explained in court documents that they’ve had no heat, no air con, or each.

The homeowners have currently filed a separate lawsuit against the tower's developer alleging construction defects, issues of safety and other deficiencies within the tower.

“These claims will be resolved in the construction process,” developer FPP said in court documents. “If the homeowners prevail, the developer will pay for any damages for which it is responsible.”

The grievance also alleges that the developer was experiencing financial difficulties in repaying the actual estate loan for the property. The developer states that the issue of delinquent loans has been resolved.

The litigation surrounding 188 West St. James could drag on into next 12 months, with a minimum of 12 hearings scheduled to handle a variety of issues within the Santa Clara County court case.

Originally published: August 20, 2024 at 12:10

Today is Wednesday, August 7, the 220th day of the 12 months 2024. There are 146 days left within the 12 months.

Today in history:

On August 7, 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit performed an unauthorized tightrope walk between the 2 towers of the World Trade Center in New York, over 400 meters above the bottom. The event was documented within the Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire.”

Also on this date:

In 1789, Congress established the U.S. War Department.

In 1960, Ivory Coast gained independence from France.

In 1964, Congress passed the Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers to cope with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully when the command module splashed down within the Pacific Ocean.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal disaster in Niagara Falls, New York, a federal public health emergency; it later topped the list of Superfund-funded cleanup areas.

In 1989, a plane carrying Texas U.S. Representative Mickey Leland and 15 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The plane's wreckage was found six days later; there have been no survivors.)

In 1990, President George HW Bush ordered U.S. troops and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom from a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

In 2007, San Francisco's Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run, breaking Hank Aaron's famous record with only one out within the fifth inning of a game against the Washington Nationals, who won 8-6.

In 2012, to avoid a possible death penalty, Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the remainder of his life in prison. He admitted to happening a rampage at a political rally in Arizona in 2011, killing six people and injuring 13, including U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords.

In 2015, movie show bomber James Holmes was spared the death penalty in Colorado and as a substitute received a life sentence after a jury in Centennial couldn’t agree on whether he ought to be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead.

Today's birthdays:

• Singer Lana Cantrell is 81.
• Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 80.
• Actor John Glover is 80.
• Actor David Rasche is 80.
• Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 74.
• Country singer Rodney Crowell is 74.
• Actress Caroline Aaron is 72.
• Comedian Alexei Sayle is 72.
• Actor Wayne Knight is 69.
• Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 66.
• Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 66.
• Actor David Duchovny is 64.
• Actor Delane Matthews is 63.
• Actor Harold Perrineau is 61.
• Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 61.
• Country singer Raul Malo is 59.
• Actor David Mann is 58.
• Actress Charlotte Lewis is 57.
• Actor Sydney Penny is 53.
• Actor Greg Serano is 52.
• Actor Michael Shannon is 50.
• Actress Charlize Theron is 49.
• Rock musician Barry Kerch is 48.
• Actor Eric Johnson is 45.
• Actor Randy Wayne is 43.
• Actress and writer Brit Marling is 42.
• NHL center Sidney Crosby is 37.
• MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 33.
• Actor Liam James is 28.

Originally published: August 7, 2024 at 1:00 am

Winning an Olympic gold medal is taken into account the crowning achievement of an athlete and so it is barely fitting that the physical medal reflects this significance.

The decoration of the gold medal is special at every Olympic Games, but Paris 2024 is especially notable because when athletes win gold, they get to take home a chunk of the Eiffel Tower, an emblem of the host city.

The Eiffel Tower played a serious role within the opening ceremony of Paris 2024. From shining lights and the Olympic rings to the comeback of Celine Dion, the Eiffel Tower showed the world its splendor. And now it’s going to be a part of the athletes' medal collection.

What else is exclusive about these gold medals and what’s the connection between them and the Eiffel Tower? Find out every thing you should know here.

How many Olympic medals are created?

According to several reports, around 5,084 medals have been developed for Paris 2024. They indicate that around 2,600 medals were created for the Olympic Games and a couple of,400 for the Paralympics.

How much do the Olympic gold medals weigh?

The gold medal weighs 1.17 kilos. The silver medal, as compared, weighs 1.16 kilos, while the bronze medal weighs one pound.

Who designed the Olympic gold medals?

The Olympic medals were designed by the French luxury jewelry and watch brand Chaumet. Founded in 1780, the brand is owned by LVMH (Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton).

What are the characteristics of the Olympic gold medals?

The Olympic gold medal consists of three features: the hexagon, the luster and the setting.

In the middle of the medal is a hexagon. It is a tribute to France's nickname “L'hexagone” since the country is roughly hexagonal.

The hexagon is surrounded by several string-like structures. These symbolize the radiant light, as Paris is sometimes called the “City of Light”.

There are prong settings on the six edges of the hexagon. The shape is comparable to the rivets on the Eiffel Tower.

What is the connection to the Eiffel Tower?

The Eiffel Tower was the defining landmark of the 1889 World Exhibition. The original tower was made from wrought iron.

When the Eiffel Tower was renovated within the twentieth century, pieces of the unique iron were saved and stored. These chunks form the hexagonal figure in the middle of the Olympic gold medal.

According to several reports, each medal comprises 0.04 kilos of iron residue from the renovation of the Eiffel Tower.

Gold, silver and bronze medals were first awarded on the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis. It is estimated that 1,011 medals can be awarded on the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris – based on the Games' medal count (more medals were developed for team events). This is the primary time that a chunk of a city's historic landmark has been included in an Olympic medal.

How much is an Olympic gold medal price?

According to Forbes, an Olympic gold medal on the 2024 Paris Olympics is price about $950.

What happens on the medal ceremony?

The gold medal can be placed across the neck of the winning athlete on the rostrum. The athlete may also receive a stuffed souvenir of the Paris 2024 mascot. The national anthem of the winning athlete's country will then be played – a convention that began for gold medalists at medal ceremonies in 1932.

Required reading

The athlete