A 2-steps-from-origin word-of-mouth claim of "They told me someone called on my behalf" is not the same thing as "Flock impersonates".
"they told me" (definitive) and "called on my behalf" (interpretable) are both important here.
The general principle: Should a third party be able to call a hotel to cancel someone else's booking? If you think so, please let me know next time you have travel plans and we'll put that to the test. I would hope the hotel would not be vulnerable to that kind of attack.
They're false statements of fact.
> if Flock didn't "impersonate" the traveler, then that makes it worse-looking for the hotel
I see now suddenly we've gone from "Flock bad" to "hotel bad". I hope you recognize the importance of that shift in blame in relation to the submitted headline.
> The general principle: Should a third party be able to call a hotel to cancel someone else's booking?
A booking made in a designated room block. If you call the hotel and claim to be a member of my family reunion then I'm going to call the hotel and tell them that you lied.