Booked a hotel for a surprise anniversary weekend through Hotels com. Got the confirmation email, everything looked good. We drove five hours, walked into the lobby with our bags… and the front desk said there was no reservation under either of our names. Showed them the booking receipt, but they said it looked like a ghost booking — no payment came through. I tried calling Hotels com, but it was just endless hold music. Had to pay full price at the same hotel just to stay the night. Has anyone actually gotten refunded for this kind of mess? Or do they always blame the hotel?