Rosalie, I think they operated outside business bounds.

I made a reservation at a marina for the winter - made the reservation
in October to be there December 15th. The whole charge was on my
credit card the next day. They did not wait until December to charge.

did they ask for payment up front? Likely, as that is common, otherwise
they
have to keep tied up a slip for which you might never show up for.

They didn't say that - they asked for a credit card number to secure
the reservation, and I've often seen that with hotels. So they would
bill me if I did not show up. I did not expect them to bill me in
advance - the amount included a utility deposit of $150 which there
was no need to charge for in advance as if I hadn't gotten there,
there would have been no utilities to turn on.

grandma Rosalie