There was a case where a family was applying for a Schengen Visa. They had all the correct documents, but during the verification process, the consulate claimed that one of the birth certificates looked 'suspicious'. It was a perfectly legitimate document from their home country, but they had to go through a long and expensive process of getting it authenticated again in a different way. This caused a huge delay and they almost missed their travel plans.
Yes. I know of a case where a person submitted all the required documents for an Indian e - visa related to business travel. But during the document verification process, they were asked for additional documents that were not mentioned anywhere on the official website. This caught the applicant off - guard and caused a delay in getting the visa. And in some other cases, the verification of address proof documents was really strict and some valid documents were wrongly considered as invalid.
Well, some face issues with the accommodation proof. I heard of a case where a traveler had booked a legitimate Airbnb but the consulate didn't accept it as proper accommodation proof. Also, many applicants get frustrated with the lack of communication. You send in your application and then it's like a black hole. You don't know what's going on until you get a rejection or approval, with no updates in between.
Sure. There was a couple where one partner was from another country. When they applied for the marriage visa, they found out that there was a mistake in the form filled by the immigration lawyer they hired. This led to an automatic rejection at the first stage. They had to start all over again, pay more fees, and wait for an even longer time. It was a huge setback for them, both financially and emotionally.
Yes. In Warsaw, Poland, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Nazis had confined Jews to a ghetto and then began to deport them to death camps. The Jews fought back, but the Nazis responded with extreme brutality. Civilians were massacred, and the ghetto was eventually razed to the ground. It was a dark chapter for the civilians there.
In a big city hospital, overcrowding led to patients being put in hallways instead of proper rooms. There were not enough beds, so people were lying on gurneys in the corridors. This made it difficult for the nurses to monitor everyone properly. Also, it increased the risk of spreading diseases among the patients. It was a very distressing situation for everyone involved.
There was this old tenement building in the ghetto. People there had to deal with broken staircases. A family on the third floor had an elderly member who couldn't climb the stairs easily. One day, the railing on the stairs broke completely. It was so dangerous that the family was constantly worried about the elderly person falling and getting seriously injured. And the landlord didn't care at all about fixing it.
There was a soldier who was caught in a gas attack. He watched as his friends started coughing up blood and choking. He managed to put on his gas mask in time but was then separated from his unit. As he wandered through the trenches, he came across a dying comrade who was begging for help but he couldn't do much. He was haunted by that moment for the rest of his life.
I heard about a biker who booked an Airbnb near Sturgis. The listing showed a clean and cozy place. But when he arrived, the place was a mess. There was garbage in the kitchen, and the bathroom was filthy. The host was unreachable, and he had to spend the first day of his Sturgis trip trying to clean up the place just so he could stay there.
Sure. There was a seller who sold a used laptop on Carousell. The buyer seemed very nice at first and asked a lot of questions. After the seller shipped the laptop, the buyer claimed it was damaged and demanded a refund. However, the seller knew the laptop was in perfect condition when shipped. The buyer then threatened to leave bad reviews if the refund wasn't given. It was a really difficult situation for the seller.
I know of a story where on a holiday, the mta was running a reduced service but there were still a lot of people out. A particular train was so overcrowded that passengers couldn't move their arms or legs properly. Some people had their bags squashed, and there was a lot of jostling. There were kids crying because they were so uncomfortable. It was a nightmare for everyone on board. And the train had to make extra stops because of some technical issues, which just added to the chaos.