32-year-old former Australian soldier now working as a private security consultant in Afghanistan, claims he stepped out of a line in the airport’s passenger queues to use an ATM. That’s when he says the undercover officer forcefully grabbed him by the wrist, The Advertiser newspaper of Australia reports.

Contrast with the charming Brad in customer support at 1800hotels.com who told me I was calling in 2 days late for being able to get my money back (I’d paid the extra FLEX fee) and that I should have called before I was sick to make the cancellation. When I said the flu didn’t happen that way he told me that even “if you dropped dead or the moon fell on your house, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

I got the money back but only after a) tweeting this encounter to all who would listen b) telling 1800hotels that they had made the $%&* list of my radio show, only the 3rd company in 19 years to do so and c) the most ungracious letter from their customer relations telling me how they were going to absorb the loss my reservation had caused them $477.00 Please.

1800hotels.com are practically ordering sick people to travel so they don’t lose their money. Where are the Feds when we need them? This is extortion and there ought to be a way to stop it.