After the flight that led to the now-famous [SPECIFIC ITEM] debacle, my wife was promised a refund of the miles used to upgrade a one-way flight to first in saver (12,500 miles) because we were downgraded during IRROPS. The flight was on Aug. 4, and I did the flight change/upgrade on Aug. 3.

Original message (Sept 11):
"We protected you on flight #XX; however, we could not accommodate you in first class. Please know that the 12,500 miles, you each used for the upgrade, has been returned to each account"

After a month of no miles, I sent a follow-up message. Here's the reply (today, Oct. 25):

"We’re always glad to hear from MileagePlus® members like you. Thanks for writing.
We are reflecting the miles credited to your account on 8/03/2012"

Thus, the customer service was so good that they actually traveled backwards in time to credit me! Of course, what she is actually seeing is that the original award was redeposited (12,500 miles) and a new award was ticketed (25,000 miles). It was making my brain hurt to try to explain that giving me back 12,500 miles, then taking away 25,000, then giving back 12,500 leaves me at spending 12,500 miles for a one way flight - which is correct. Argh!

BTW: the resolution on the [SPECIFIC ITEM] fiasco turned out to have been 2,500 miles. They posted twice (for 5,000 total), and then mysteriously deducted the second of the two sets. When I asked about it, they denied it had ever occurred first, and then said "Oh yeah, that was our bad". So much for 5,000 miles compensation