Welcome to FT... glad to see my posting prompted you to respond.
And since you are a virgin, I'll grant you a gratuitous swipe or two, some of which was admittedly deserved. And I will even pass up the obvious opportunities for fun with your FT handle.
Having said that, it is clear that I am aware of the Thalys rules, namely that the ticket must be picked up in a designated country. Indeed I even called myself "un idiot" for not remembering to pick up the return ticket in Paris. And I have already acknowledged the error of my "international" comment.
However, all of my other comments are spot on.
An NS office is not a Thalys office. It is an NS office that sells tickets on SNCF/Thalys metal. There is no Thalys signage, no link to the SNCF/Thalys computer system other than access to inventory, and my agent, while most pleasant, was clueless about Thalys documentation. And as my agent confirmed, there indeed is a Thalys office in Amsterdam, just not at the train station. @:-)
As for the Thalys policy itself, the inability of a traveler to access his ticket in any Schengen country, seems a bit, dare I say, archaeic? It is 2008 after all. If airlines can electronically keep track of my records and issue me boarding passes all over the world, whether through their own offices or an contract agent's office, why not Thalys and NS? I might hazard a wild guess that unions and an entrenched bureaucracy in each country's rail system might have something to do with it, but what do I know?
As for the rationale for my refund expectations, SNCF rules are indeed clearly stated, and permit a 50% refund on my Paris-purchased tickets "before departure and up to an hour afterwards".
While parts of Amsterdam are most attractive, Amsterdam Centraal is simply ugly. There may be exterior work going on, but other than some minor work being done just inside some of the entrances, there is no indication of any major work going on inside the station, let alone that it "is being totally renovated".
Since you know the system, you fortunately have no reason to use the ticket office and thus presumably are not aware of its chaotic state. When 70 people are in queue to speak with 3 agents, something could be improved.