for the people who've called in. we begin tonight with a call about a morbid mix-up involving a family's cemetery plot. a 74-year-old north bay viewer was simply looking to get his affairs in order when the cemetery told him his eternal resting place was already occupied by a stranger, and their mistake would cost him 4 figures. john: you know, the older i get, the more we think about death. chris: john wilson plans to be buried in benicia city cemetery beside his parents. john: my dad said, "well, it's got a really nice view of the bay." chris: james and madge wilson bought 2 plots back in 1955. they're buried together in plot 36a, leaving plot 36b for john. but while getting his affairs in order about a year ago, the city cemetery delivered unexpected news. john: i said, "there's supposed to be an empty grave spot." and they said, "no, it's not. there's another james r. wilson there." and i said, "well, he's not related to us. i don't know who he is, but he shouldn't be there." chris: john couldn't believe it. he says for nearly a year, the city insisted the unmarked grave next to his parents was occupied by a stranger who happened to share the same last name. john: now, i don't think i even heard an apology. chris: john said the cemetery ultimately offered a refund for the blunder. john: and he said, "john, the best we can do for you is give you $15 back." chris: yes, $15. benicia cemetery bylaws outline it's right to correct errors with a refund. now, john showed me his parents' receipt from '55. they paid $30 for 2 plots, so john gets half. chris: a $15 refund? john: yeah, a $15 refund, and i said, "what about inflation?" chris: prices have risen since 1955. a haircut is no longer $1.42, gas no longer $0.29 a gallon, a visit to the doctor no longer $3.41, and a new burial plot in benicia no longer $15. it's as much as $1500. john: and that's why i called you. i thought, "well, maybe if they're on tv, that might change their attitude a little bit." chris: we wrote the city, and within days, john was offered a plot elsewhere in the cemetery at no charge. but then, the following day, a cemetery supervisor called back to say john's plot next to mom and dad was not occupied after all. john: i'd like to be able to believe him. he told me the other day, "john, it's all a big mistake. there's really the empty plot there for you. that's yours when you want it." and i said, "well, how come for a whole year i heard there's somebody buried there named james wilson?" chris: by email, a city project manager confirmed the cemetery had made a mistake, and said, "we have resolved this issue." we asked the city of benicia for an interview, but weren't granted one. john: when you make a mistake that big, you know, and won't talk about it-- andrew sparrer: it's taboo to talk about death and dying. chris: funeral planner andrew sparrer applauds john for trying to put his funeral plans on paper early. andrew: everyone should have a copy of it. keep it in a safe place. chris: today's typical funeral costs between $7 and $10,0000. sparrer says preplanning your final wishes can cut expenses and reduce the stress families face when they're forced to guess the dearly departed's desires. andrew: there are times when the whole family's gotta leave and go have a little meeting, then come back when they've all come to an agreement. chris: as for john-- john: i'm trying to enjoy my retirement if i can ever figure out who's buried in that grave. chris: he's still not 100% sure if plot 36b is empty or occupied. john: and if they're willing, give me a shovel, and i'll dig it up. chris: john's final request for the cemetery is written proof that this proof is his. john: now, if he wants to give me that gravesite and put it on paper that it's legally mine, then that would make me happy. maybe an apology too might help. chris: we got john that letter. it has two sentences, but zero apology. john: i appreciate you goin' through the time to check everything out for me. chris: john's story is proof planning a funeral is no small undertaking. the federal trade commission's checklist for consumers includes about two dozen different decisions to make. ideally, while you're still alive. next, we respond to a redwood city couple whose mortgage payments were out of whack, and they feared it would trigger a foreclosure. their story is a refresher for everyone. lynn: it's lovely, i love this home. i love the view. chris: lynn smart adores her new redwood city home, which she bought this past october. lynn: the home gives me happiness, it does. it just makes me happy. chris: however, lynn was quite unhappy when her new mortgage payment included an inflated charge for property taxes. she says the calculation was $1100 per month higher than it should have been, despite her repeated calls to her mortgage servicer to correct it. lynn: they continued and refused to lower my monthly payments. chris: the source of lynn's mortgage trouble is a pair of california propositions, 60 and 90. they let homeowners who are aged 55 or older downsize without a punishing property tax reassessment. that means lynn is allowed to keep her previous property tax rate for her new home. but instead, her mortgage servicer, cenlar, was charging her the current rate, which is $1100 a month more. lynn: i couldn't have afforded to do it with-- chris: lynn complained to cenlar and says the company told her it would revisit the math after she lived in the home a year. it would then give her a refund, in a year. so, lynn started paying the extra $1100 a month because she feared foreclosure if she paid less. lynn: and i paid it and paid it and paid it. chris: but it didn't sit right with lynn, so she pressed cenlar to square things up right away. it finally refunded her some of what it owed her, $5400, but it wouldn't refund it all. so, she contacted us. we contacted cenlar. next thing you know, lynn received this $4300 check, settling up the nearly 10 grand she had overpaid. lynn: plus, my loan amount is exactly right. chris: finally. lynn: finally. chris: lynn is confident her call to "nbc bay area responds" prompted cenlar to recalculate her payments. lynn: you fixed it completely. chris: cenlar didn't respond to our requests for comment. now, for homeowners everywhere, and of all ages, lynn's story is a reminder that, while automatic escrow accounts for insurance and property taxes are very convenient, they still require your attention. double check your mortgage company's figures against your actual tax bills and insurance policies, and if those numbers are off, challenge them to find out why. announcer: coming up: louis rodriguez: we don't what's going on. we've never been challenged with the law. announcer: the landlord says these dogs can stay, but the homeowner's association says they have to go. we set the record straight. then: amy: if we hadn't made a big ruckus, i would have been writin' a check tomorrow. announcer: they felt wrongfully accused of setting off fireworks, so they asked us to challenge their $500 fines. and later: nick williams: i was trying to remain calm. announcer: a "hamilton" ticket holder ends up on the hook for 2 grand, even though he sold tickets to the show. we'll have a lesson for everyone. now to the couple that feared they would be forced to move because they have assistance animals. this couple was convinced the law protected them, but their homeowner's association pushed back. louis: come here, come on. she'll come up and sit right with me and look at me, and that immediately calms me down. chris: louis and gloria rodriguez rented a morgan hill condo back in january. they moved in with their three emotional support dogs, pepe, david, and daisy, who help them with their disabilities. louis: it's kinda like having a lifesaver, if you will. chris: the rodriguezes say their landlord welcome the dogs, but the homeowner's association, cottage green, didn't. louis says a month after moving in, cottage green said they were violating its two-pet policy. louis: our dogs aren't pets. chris: louis says the cottage green board asked to see proof the couple needed the dogs. louis says they supplied these notes from their doctors, stating they both functional limitations imposed by their disabilities, and the dogs enhance their ability to live independently. but louis says cottage green wasn't satisfied. he says the association asked for an updated note from his doctor, and requested to see the dogs perform their service. louis: we don't know what's going on. we've never been challenged with the law. chris: louis was baffled. he was certain the law protected them. kevin kish: that's why we're here. a lot of landlords don't understand the legal obligations that they have. chris: kevin kish heads the california department of fair employment and housing. one of his jobs is to investigate complaints about housing discrimination. kish says assistance animals play many roles. some are trained to help people who are blind, deaf, or have other physical disabilities. others offer emotional assistance. it's their mere presence that helps. well, state and federal laws protect them all. kish said the rodriguezes doctors' notes should have been enough proof for the hoa to allow pepe, david, and daisy. kevin: if someone is providing a landlord with documentation from a medical professional that establishes that the person has a disability and that the animal is assisting the person with the disability use the dwelling place, then, generally, that is all the tenant needs to show the landlord. chris: so, we went back to cottage green. by email, a board spokesperson said they never received louis' doctor's note. but a few weeks later, he said the rodriguezes dogs would be allowed to stay. we still had questions, but cottage green declined our request for an interview and even a phone call. instead, the board spokesperson said in an email: "the issue is satisfied as to mr. and mrs. rodriguez. there is nothing further to discuss." louis and gloria hope other people with disabilities and assistance animals learn from their struggle. louis: if it's happening to me, it must be happening to other people. we just wanna get on life, respect our neighbors and the community, and just be part of this community. chris: another important note here, people with assistance animals do not have to disclose what their disability is. also, the state says landlords can refuse an assistance animal in two circumstances: one, if the animal poses a known threat, like a history of biting or lunging at people. and two, if the animal causes significant damage to the property. announcer: just ahead: nick: it was so much money i was on the hook for that i was about lose for something that, you know, i feel like i did no wrong in. announcer: the concert tickets that came with an unexpected amount of financial drama. and later, why a $9 car wash dispute got our attention. if you have a consumer complaint, tell us about it. call 888-996-tips or go to nbcbayarea.com/responds. we'll be right back. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. next, we're helping a san francisco man who learned that selling tickets on the secondary market can be risky and can cost you thousands of dollars. he had tickets to the hottest show in town, "hamilton," so they were easy to sell. yet he somehow wound up on the hook for thousands of dollars, here's why. chris: when "hamilton" tickets went on sale in san francisco, nick williams was lucky enough to snag a half dozen. nick: i was like, "yeah, this is great. i never expected for that to happen." chris: nick bought six tickets for $500 each, and was excited for his girlfriend and family from the east coast to join him. but weeks before the show, a work commitment hit nick's calendar on the same day as the show. "hamilton" was now a no go. nick: we definitely wanted to go to the show, and i've been wanting to see it since it came out. and so, yeah, everybody was bummed. chris: nick sold his six "hamilton" tickets on stubhub, but it wasn't quite a done deal. nick hadn't yet received the tickets from the shn orpheum theater. stubhub says it's okay for consumers to sell tickets before they have them, but sellers must provide the date that they'll have them in hand, and nick did. he says he based that date on when the orpheum told him it would mail the tickets. but the tickets never arrived. nick: i was trying to remain calm, and hopefully, i could still rectify the situation. but every day that passed, it didn't look good, so i was kinda, i was getting extremely nervous. chris: nick says he called the theater asking for his tickets, but he was told to just keep checking his mail. then, because nick couldn't deliver the tickets to stubhub on the promised date, it canceled the sale and penalized him $2400. this penalty is spelled out in stubhub's policy, and really, it's something all ticket sellers should know. stubhub considers nick's transaction a dropped sale since a buyer had purchased his tickets. so, stubhub can then charge the seller, in this case nick, the additional cost to get the buyer similar seats to the same show. nick was frustrated because he felt the dropped sale wasn't his fault. nick: it was so much money i was on the hook for that i was about to lose for something that, you know, i feel like i did no wrong in. chris: nick says the theater eventually said it would reissue his tickets and leave them at will call the day of the show, but that did nick no good, so he turned to us for help. nick: i was mildly panicking, i would say. chris: we contacted the orpheum theater, and it refunded nick the 3 grand he paid for the "hamilton" tickets. the theater would not comment for this story. we also contacted stubhub. it refunded nick the $2400 penalty. in a statement, stubhub said: "it was unfortunate that the venue was unable to fulfill this customer's order...so as a one-time courtesy, stubhub stepped in to pay for the lost tickets." nick: basically, you solved everything for me. chris: nick is happy to have that money back in his pocket. he jokes the next time he tries selling tickets, he won't put as much money on the line. nick: i guess the lesson learned is try to buy, you know, giants tickets instead for $50 instead of "hamilton" tickets for $500. chris: well, next, we are bringing about change at san jose city hall. we were the first to report that the city was slapping people with $500 fireworks fines with little or no proof. well, the accused called and eventually, the city called off the fines. chris: on garrison circle, there's a collective sign. female: it's awesome. chris: a vindication. amy: i feel relieved. i feel really great. chris: this small street exposed a large flaw in the city's new fireworks enforcement. fines were sent to several homes here, as well as other parts of san jose, without a single visit from law enforcement. chris: how many police officers visited you? male: not one. chris: how many firefighters? amy: none. chris: code enforcement? female: no. chris: the $500 citations came about when the city invited people to report illegal fireworks using this online form. we found that those accusations rarely had video or photo evidence, sometimes included just one word, and in several cases, didn't even a specific address. yet the fire marshal still issued 45 citations. we challenged the city. so did these residents. now, san jose is conceding mistakes were made and the fines are unjust. dave sykes: we all apologize for anyone who was issued a citation unfairly. chris: assistant city manager dave sykes says all 45 citations are being dismissed because the criteria for fireworks citations had not been evenly applied. dave: there's obviously room for improvement, and so that's why we've, you know, decided to dismiss these citations. chris: the unfairness wasn't always so obvious to the city. female: this has been going on for a month. chris: residents say city hall was initially too stubborn to see the flaws. so amy guzules led the charge to keep the pressure on. amy: five hundred dollars is not easy to come by. amy: if we hadn't made a big ruckus, i would have been writin' a check tomorrow. chris: do you think the city was counting on that? amy: oh, yeah. chris: amy's happy she spoke up, and even happier someone listened. amy: nbc was the first to respond, and you guys have really, you know, taken the reins, and found out a lot of stuff i never would have been able to find out, nor have had the time or energy to continue to pursue. so i really appreciate that. chris: the city is reviewing its policy for issuing fines. it's also set to reexamine the appeals process because, as of right now, you can only contest a fireworks citation if you pay the $500 fine first. announcer: straight ahead: david: the 14-day period start running the moment when you purchase your gas. chris: down to the second. david: down to the second. announcer: the car wash customer and his beef with the fine print, or lack thereof, next. chris: welcome back, and finally, tonight, 2 minutes of proof that we respond to every call and every email we receive, no matter the amount of money in dispute. this is that story about a $9 car wash, a $9 car wash that a union city man paid for but never got. yes, it is partly about principle, but it's also about shelling out 9 bucks and getting nothing in return. chris: a gas station car wash. your route to the rotating bristles is a routine. you pump fuel, you pay for a code, you punch it into the keypad, then you let the suds restore a showroom shine. but when david lin followed that routine at this union city shell, he couldn't get past the keypad. david: the code didn't work. chris: oddly, the clock was his enemy. david prepaid for a works car wash the afternoon of may 6. the pump printed this receipt that says, "expires may 20," so the car wash was good for 14 days. but when david tried to use the code the night of the 20th, the attendant told him he was too late because the expiration date here includes the time. david: the 14-day period start running the moment when you purchase your gas. chris: down to the second. david: down to the second. chris: david bought his car wash at 2 pm. to be exact, 2:47 and 25 seconds. so, according to the gas station, his code had to be redeemed by 2:47 and 25 seconds 14 days later. chris: did you know that? david: i didn't know that, and the car wash receipt only lists the day. chris: right, his receipt only says, "expires may 20." there's no mention of enforcing the expiration time down to the second. david argued that point locally unsuccessfully. chris: david filed his $9 complaint with shell corporate, which redirected him to the local franchisee. that went nowhere. david: nothing happened, and that's when i contacted nbc bay area. chris: we contacted the shell station, and within 24 hours, it agreed to give david another $9 car was. by phone, manager romi deol told us, "i was more than happy to help him," and, "i immediately called him, right away." chris: deol declined to say whether he'll be making any changes to his car wash. david, who's a lawyer, thinks the station should disclose the time restriction, or just stop doing it. david: that's what i would tell my clients to do. chris: it was his $9, after all. david, amy, lynn, nick, john, and everyone else you met tonight got our help by simply sending us a tip, and you can too. the number is right there, 888-996-tips, or you can do it online at nbcbayarea.com/responds. you can also send documents and photos on our website, and we welcome you to do that. if you'd like to see more of us fighting for consumers like you, please join us weekdays at 6 am and 6 pm. as we say goodbye, here's a look at just a handful of the people that we have helped, and the money they recovered with our help. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura, thank you very much for watching. we hope you have a great night. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ justin timberlake super bowl plans, welcome to "access hollywood." i'm scott evans. justin will lead the super bowl halftime show. this will be his third time taking the halftime stage. perfect timing for kit to lead with some advice for a show. >> okay, wait. i don't know if i start with, i've got an idea for the super bowl halftime show. i'm a choreographer. 1985 bears, super bowl shuffle. do you know this? >> i remember the super bowl shuffle. ♪ we are the bears ♪ we're not here too start no shuffle ♪ >> i'll consider it, kit. >> his look may say otherwise. but justin still has four months until the super bowl to change his mind. clearly they've asked you year after year to do the super bowl halftime show. why this year did you say yes? >> i don't know if that's entirely true that they asked me. >> come on. >> i just think the timing feels right. i'm mostly, being a father now, make my decisions based on like what type of experience can i share with

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