I've used recreation.gov several times in the past to reserve spots in NFS campgrounds. Never happy with the extra fees, but I do understand "covering the cost" of partnering with a third-party to manage reservations and payment processing.
We'd booked a spot for this weekend weeks ago, and were counting the hours to getting some quiet down time. Everything packed, just needed to grab the Dawg, raise the jacks, and hit the road. Then that strange noise when raising jacks.....and the hydraulic fluid spraying all over the driveway, side of the engine block and transmission.
Yeah, I'll be asking questions about leveler hydraulics later....
But since today was check-in day, can't cancel the reservation online. First it takes a lot of digging on the website to find the phone number
(877) 444-6777 btw). Once you find it and dial, you have to sit through about 5 minutes on COVID protocols and California closures before you get to the menu. Then a 5-10 minute wait for a representative.
But wait! There's more!
After the "wait time", I hear the "ring - transfer" tone. And listen to silence for another 5 minutes before the line disconnects. And immediately get an email from recreation.gov to "rate our customer service". This happened not once this afternoon - but twice. I finally had someone pick up on the third attempt - who to his credit, did efficiently cancel my reservation, keep me out of the "no show" penalty queue, and processed what refund I could get.
Bottom line? If you've booked through recreation.gov; plan your breakdowns well in advance, so you can cancel online at least two days in advance.