My experience with Etihad is that eventually I seem to win out but not without stubborn resistance and unneccessary agravation. I booked a reward ticket for my wife. I was unsure whether she would need to fly as she was looking at doing a course. As there was some uncertainty I was diligent about checking the fare basis which allowed for cancellation with a fee.
I booked the fare but after a month the wife finally passed her IELTS with a score that meant she did not need to do the course. Rang up to cancel the ticket and was told it was non refundable. Asked to speak to a supervisor and was told there was none available and they would call back. I checked the ticket and there was no mention of cancellation at all in the terms and conditions. Checked on line by going through the ticket purchase and opening link to the fare basis and it redirected to a link saying I should go to the fare basis to get this information.
Took a lot of screen shots, waited a couple of days and rang again. Seemed I got redirected to Manchester and they were at least helpful and serious about resolving the issue which was a first in my experience. I put the supervisor on speakerphone and let him know I was recording the conversation for future possible legal action. Went through my story, established that Etihad had not provided me with any notification that the fare was non refundable, that there was no online evidence in the booking process that the fare was non refundable and suggested that they refund the points.
I was asked to email all in writing and it should take 24 hrs to get a decision. It ended up taking 2 weeks however I received my points back less the cash penalty I said was on the web site which was all I was really after. It goes to show that their systems are far from infallible and it seems there are some competent customer service agents in Etihad after all.