Q: I have a reservation with a hotel in Cancun, Mexico, through Booking.com. It is during high season, and I was concerned that the hotel might be full and that my reservation would not be honored.

The hotel has not responded to my messages, emails or phone calls. I contacted Booking.com, and it promised to attempt further contact by email and phone but carefully avoids mentioning proposed action if the hotel continues to fail to respond.

Booking.com has insisted that the booking is valid but that I must wait until my arrival to discover if my reservation will be honored. If the hotel doesn't honor the reservation, Booking.com suggests I call it for help.

I'm concerned that if I have to call Booking.com, it will be an expensive international call. If another hotel is available, there will certainly be significant additional costs. If there are no vacancies, am I to sleep in the street?

I would like to cancel my reservation, but the booking is nonrefundable. My impression of customer service is that there is concern for protocols and complete disregard for guests. Will you assist, please?

A: Strictly speaking, your Booking.com reservation is nonrefundable. But the platform should respond to your messages — and if you're not hearing anything, that's a sign of trouble.

There's no rule that a hotel has to be responsive to a guest after a reservation is made. But common sense tells you that if a hotel accepts your reservation, it should be able to answer a few questions about the room, and also independently confirm your reservation.

Now, to be fair, Booking.com did send you a confirmation and in a follow-up email, it confirmed that the reservation was a contract. But reading between the lines, it looks as if even Booking.com was starting to get worried.

You followed all the steps to a resolution. You reached out to the hotel by email, phone and text message. Then you contacted Booking.com.

I can see why you were concerned. You had found an excellent room rate on Booking.com — almost too good to be true. When I reached out to Booking.com, a representative confirmed your story. She said Booking.com had verified your reservation and had reached out to the property. Booking.com also promised to cancel your non-refundable reservation for free if contact was not made. And after no response from the hotel, Booking.com did as promised.

"We can confirm the reservation has been canceled and our team is working to process a refund," the representative told me. You found that the hotel had not charged your credit card yet, so you were in the clear.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or elliottadvocacy.org/help.