Hotwire Another rental car rip off, never again1 Internet

In June I planned a September trip to Minneapolis/St Paul.  This included air travel on Delta and a rental car.  I booked Delta online and then went to find a rental car.  I somehow was lead to Hotwire to get a "better rate".  The trip was for pleasure and I was trying to keep the cost as reasonable as possible, but this was the first time I had tried Hotwire.  I had used their service for hotels before and thought they were trustworthy.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the trip had to be cancelled.  With Delta that was no problem, I reused the ticket in July after paying a fee for the change - a reasonable policy.  However Hotwire makes it very clear that they do not allow changes or cancellations.  So now I have stopped using Hotwire for anything and notified the rental car company to terminate my frequent flyer card and I am also done with them for being a partner to a company like this.

Since I had to prepay they were able to use my funds for about four months and now they keep the entire amount.  Does this spell RIPOFF to you, it does me?