Ok, the title is a little bit too much, but i promise the rest is drama-free. Would greatly appreciate any opinions regarding the way i dealt with the situation or suggestions for what to do next.

A couple of weeks ago, i booked a round trip ticket to Boston and a few days before departure, i had to change the return leg to get back home a couple of days earlier. So i called the CP desk, asked for the change and how much it would cost me. The initial price of the ticket was around $250.

The CP desk agent told me that there was no price difference, but i had to pay the $150 change fee. I agreed, gave my cc info and got the new ticket.

A few days later, i show up to the airport around an hour before departure. I hold a copy of my new itinerary that shows the price of the ticket and i try to self-check in. No luck!! I have to see a US agent instead. Fine!! I wait for about 15 mins in the line and when it's my turn, i just explain the situation. The agent tries to check me in unsuccessfully and then gets on the phone, with Reservations i guess.

I am about 35 minutes before my flight departs, when she informs me that the system would not allow me to check in because the CP Desk agent that changed my ticket made a mistake and there was an amount of $108 due (notice that the total change cost climbs to $258 and at the time there were one-way flights for my return priced at $100..)

I have no time to argue, bc i am about to miss my flight, so i give my cc and pay the additional amount. At the same time, I tell the US agent that i changed the ticket through the CP Desk and that i think that i am not responsible for any mistake that is mine. She was very apologetic and advised me to send an e-mail to the Chairman's Desk.

After i return from Boston, i sent an e-mail to the CP Desk, that was forwarded to Refunds, explaining the situation and asking for a refund of the $108 (the amount is negligible compared to what i spend on USair for airfare, but i really felt that what they did was not right).

My arguments are:

• The mistake was not mine, therefore i shouldn't be charged for it. When i changed my ticket, i entered in a contract with USair which agreed to provide a certain service for a specific fee. USairways has no right to change this agreement at will.
  
• If i knew that the change price would have been so high, i might have chosen a different carrier or an alternative solution to accommodate my new travel plans. Waiting until the last moment to inform me about the price increase, limits my range of choices, as other tickets had already sky-rocketed. I would be more inclined to accept and understand the mistake, if they had just called or e-mailed me after they found out the mistake, instead of freezing my ticket and waiting to tell me at the airport.
  
• I find the practice of freezing the ticket totally unethical. It feels like being blackmailed and most importantly for a mistake that is not yours!!

The Refunds department replied that i am not eligible for a refund, because the change was voluntary!! I think they hardly read my message..

What would you do? I would really want to go after this, mainly because i think that is bad practice on behalf of USair, the way they handled it was totally disrespectful to a loyal customer!!