So I just got off the phone with Expedia and I feel compelled to add an addendum.
I called to verify that I would NOT get charged for the car I never got, and since I'd never given a credit card number or anything like that, I won't be charged. This is a huge relief. At the same time, it leads me to believe that without a credit card, one doesn't get one's car. So I will not be booking rental cars through expedia again -- not through their own "fault" technically, but because they can't guarantee it in the way a credit card can.

This leads me to believe that the problem was with advantage rent a car, and Joseph, the customer service rep whom I spoke to who was extraordinarily nice and pleasant, had nothing but nice things to say about them. I'm sure that maybe in another city without an event going on they're totally great. What Joseph emphasized is that they always go the extra mile to compensate for any issues -- not that they're dependable or reliable!! (Granted, he was speaking in direct response to what I was saying, but still, he didn't say, "well, that's odd!") I maintain my unwillingness to work with them again, simply by contrast with Hertz, who had the same event weekend and the same city to deal with but had numerous cars and was open 24 hours. I stand resolute.

But my ultimatum about expedia -- I'm going back to shades of grey with that one. I talked to them about not getting the type of room we'd reserved (without ever bringing up the price aspect, since I probably overpaid for the room I actually got, but for me it wasn't about the money, it was about the integrity of an expedia reservation). When I brought up the hotel experience with him, I was mostly asking him how their reservation process works, since both reservation experiences were so terrible. He said that they fax the reservation to the hotel, but pointed out that I had a "special need" because my plane got in so late, and I hadn't designated that. So I said, "you booked both the plane reservation and the hotel reservation, so I'm surprised that you don't communicate my arrival time to them automatically?" They don't. There's a space to fill in special requests and despite them having all the relevant information, they don't do so automatically. And what you fill out on that page is what gets sent to the hotel directly. Which is pretty annoying, and I was leaning towards not using them again...

But then he put me on hold to talk to his manager, and then put me on hold to talk to the hotel. When he was clear on everything, he gave me a $50 voucher towards a future hotel reservation through expedia for all my troubles, even though that's not what I was asking for hotel-wise, and even though it was technically (from their perspective) my fault for not (seeing? and/or) filling out the special needs box. People, this is just good business. Smart and helpful. (The manager at the Italian place could take a lesson!)

So, I will be booking a hotel one more time with expedia to use this voucher (within a year). Next time, I will be ever-so-obsessively formal about all "special" needs so that I know exactly what the hotel lays eyes on.

But what really put me back into the grey with Expedia is how nice Joseph was. He was very patient, he understood what I was asking, which indicated competence, and then he went past that to deal directly with the experience. Obviously, there's some expedia flow chart they use about how to deal with disgruntled customers, and he was following it. But it's still good business.

Joseph, you did an admirable job today. Expedia owes you a raise.