Expedia, who knew?

[matt819]

1. You gotta read the fine print

And sometimes the not so fine print. Cancellation/refund policies are generally front and center when booking. If the customer missed this, then she's SOL. If the info wasn't provided, that's another issue.

That said, while it may take more time, it's useful to check pricing from a variety of sources, including the hotel chain itself, though this applies as well to airlines and car rentals. If you book through a expedia or any of the other travel & booking sites, you're at the bottom of the list when it comes to customer service. We had this experience just once, and since then we book directly from the airline or the hotel. With one exception. Hotwire for hotels and car rentals. But we're comfortable doing that because the cancellation/refund policy is boldly stated - there is no refund - and with regular travel you generally know what hotel/car rental company they're going to use in a given area. And when you get a not so good hotel, you can at least comfort yourself at saving money. But we don't use them for flights. There, we go direct to the airlines.