It's happened to me once, about a year ago ex WAW, on a booking changed 24 hours before departure and I saw it happening to another passenger once ex LHR (also on the WAW route).

I, too, was speechless. The idea that in any kind of mass catering you don't get wastage is madness (even if, in theory, someone else could benefit from it). If you have status which provides lounge access and the wonder that is the T5 Fast Track, then the enormous premium for CE is only really to ensure you get a meal. I successfully argued the invol downgrade theory with customer services but the feeling of shock that this situation was initially seen as OK by BA still stays with me today, a year later. If you can't provide the service after a certain cutoff time, then you shouldn't offer it for sale.