This seems to be a new trend, there is another recent post about the same thing, and the OP got slammed for not reading the cancellation policy, also....

Well let me tell you that when points bookings have always been refundable, it is just not something we are hard wired to check...

I myself have just been burned by this, also, and my reservation is not until next September! Plenty of cash rates with different cancellation ranges, but who would ever think a points booking would be immediately non-refundable?

I have reached out to the hotel, but so far have heard nothing back except an auto-email that the first person I sent the e-mail to will be out until after Thanksgiving, but the person I forwarded it to has also not gotten back to me, not even to say "no, we won't do it".

I'm just here trying to express sympathy for the OP....it's so easy to sit and be holier than thou and say that it's your fault you didn't read the policy, and while that's technically true, this new non-refundable points thing has literally come out of the blue. And it's not like "X points is non-refundable, but XXX points is refundable" - it's ALL points booking are immediately non-refundable, at least at my hotel in question.

I also will lose a bundle of points if this can't be fixed....and my reservation is not until next year, and not during any special events.