SFO777,

You stated numerous times that Thalys do not have an office at Amsterdam Centraal; they do - it's the NS office. Thalys are represented in each country by the respective national railway companies - hence why you're given the choice of countries on Thalys's home page.

I just tried reserving a single AMS-Paris ticket from the SNCF's Thalys website. The choices for ticket pick up are clearly stated as follow:

- collect ticket from machine at SNCF station or SNCF ticket office
- collect ticket from RailEurope agency
- print ticket at home
- receipt by post in France

It clearly states that the ticket must be picked up at the SNCF station - hence I can not see how you could argue for a refund (good luck regardless).

As for Amsterdam Centraal, if you did not notice the major works going on, the station is being totally renovated. Indeed it can be a bit dark now, but it still works quite well for a station (no major bottlenecks, good signage, etc).

Finally - as already mentioned, despite the borderless travel (i.e. Schengen), there is still a distinction between 'domestic' and 'international' (such is the case in every county in Europe), although it would seem rather rich for a foreigner to come to our country and correct the NS!