Hotwire.com Vacation Ruined by incompetence San Francisco California

I booked a car rental through Hotwire.com recently on a trip to California.  I attempted to book the rental online but was unable to complete the booking process.  I called and spoke with a Hotwire booking agent to complete the transaction.  Once I had an agent on the line I specifically asked if there would be a problem picking up my car without the credit card physically on me.   The agent assured me there would be no issue with Thrifty car rental company, the company they had purchased the rental from.

Hours later after traveling I arrive at the airport to pick up the car rental.  Upon speaking with the Thrifty agent I find that they have no reservation with the information given to me by Hotwire.  I immediately called Hotwire back to see what had happened.  The agent told me there had been a systems error and that they would book a car for me with the information previously given with the earlier transaction.  They found a similar car rental deal and proceeded to book it for me.  I then went back to the Thrifty agent and was again shocked to find out that I would not be able to pick up the rental without the credit card on me.  

My workshop and reservation, a three hour drive north, are due to begin in just a few hours now.  I again called Hotwire explaining the previous three problems with completing the car rental booking and pick up.  At this point the agent tells me that all the car rental companies are going to require the physical credit card at the time of pick up unless I have a $350.00 cash deposit.  I explain that I specifically requested this information five to six hours ago and was given the incorrect information from one of their booking agents.  I explain that I am now stranded on the other side of the country without transportation, hours late to the workshop event and accommodations I have paid for all due to someones incompetence.

I then ask what Hotwire is going to do to remedy the situation and immediately get hung up on.  I call back three more times to have the call dropped somehow.  I finally get a booking agent on the phone and he laughs and laughs at the situation telling me that they are not going to do anything and that is just too bad.  I ask to speak with a supervisor and am put on hold for 60 minutes.  Once I have the supervisor on the phone the supervisor tells me that they are not responsible for what happened and they will not be doing anything to remedy the situation.  They even tell me they have no helpful information on how to get to my destination now.

Hours later I find a bus that will take me halfway to my destination.  I have to wait two hours at 9pm to get the next bus.  I then have to take a taxi the other half of the trip as there is no public transportation in the area.  All of this unexpected, unaccounted for and extremely inconvenient additional traveling due to Hotwire's incompetence costs me over $150