DEAR MISS MANNERS: Earlier this year, I made arrangements with a couple of acquaintances to spend the night in a hotel to celebrate one of their birthdays and to sightsee.

Five weeks prior to the night, some close family friends told me they were coming to visit me that same weekend. I told the acquaintance whose birthday it was that I could not make it after all. They became upset because the hotel reservation was nonrefundable.

I apologized because these other friends were coming from out of state, and I am honestly closer to them. I asked the acquaintance if they could call the hotel to ask about a refund, but they refused. I called the hotel myself, and although the booking was nonrefundable, it could have been rescheduled.

I tried to explain this to my acquaintance, but all they wo

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