I booked a room for a stay in Corpus Christi after Christmas so I could take my kids to see my Dad.

However due to my son becoming ill I had to cancel the room the night before checkin.

Priceline has a restrictive cancellation policy - if not cancelled before 24h of noon the day of checkin - no refund.

Despite that I thought I'd contact Priceline to see if they gave their CSR's flexibility to work with a new customer in ensure customer satisfaction.

Apparently they don't.

I talked with the hotel manager and learned that they don't have the money - they don't bill Priceline until the customer actually checks in (i.e. Priceline pocketed my $80+).

Doing some research I found that I could book directly with the hotel for $5 more and have a reasonable cancellation policy (4p day of checkin).

Something to keep in mind if you ever plan to use Priceline.