Sites like HFP probably get paid a pretty penny, or get given some kind of financial incentive to offer their posts/ads on his site (happy to be corrected). However, when stories start circling of bad experiences like these, then you have to think to yourself - is your reputation worth it with these sort of cowboys?

On the subject...
A really good friend of mine had the same experience in Berlin - turned up and didn't have a booking. They tried calling but got no answer (This was over Christmas Break). Luckily they were able to book with another chain directly, and not much difference in cost. But he was furious. Luckily they had used AMEX for the booking, who refunded them in full, and took it up directly with Kaligo.