I reserved a cabin for the week of Christmas. I made the reservation between 12/20 and 12/22. I was told no charge would ever be made to my credit card, in fact the merchant claimed they had no ability to charge credit cards at all. I gave my Mastercard number to hold the reservation. There was no cancellation fee, and nothing on their web site indicates any exception to the normal rule of notifying an innkeeper before 6pm on the day of arrival.
I was hospitalized on 12/23 and discharged to bedrest. I notified the merchant and even provided a copy of my hospital discharge paperwork, so they would know I wasn't just cancelling for the sake of doing so. I heard nothing more, but just today was notified of a $500 charge levied to my Mastercard by the merchant. The merchant was unauthorized to charge anything at all, and doing so amounts to fraud. I'm sure this particular merchant does this kind of thing as routine business, but I'm not going to permit him to push me around.
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