I know it's been almost 2 years since Daniel posted his message, but I'm still having the same problem. It took me 4 tries to get through to someone on Alitalia, only to be told that because I booked through a travel company, I had to use the group travel number. Only a recording there which said their mail box was filled and couldn't take any messages and was referred to an email that doesn't work! Really frustrated. I need an aisle seat for medical reasons and we're 2 weeks away from our flight and we don't have seat assignments. AARRGGH!