Overbooking is never the fault of third party sites, they literally make an API call in real time and ask if they have inventory available. For smaller chains a

Overbooking is never the fault of third party sites, they literally make an API call in real time and ask if they have inventory available. For smaller chains and boutique hotels the backend is probably a system that is calling into the HMS in the same way Expedia would. What you are experiencing is either the hotel manager verbally committing to rooms and not logging them into the computer to try and skim money, or they had something happen that impacted availability (no hot water, housekeeping couldn't turn over rooms, etc)