And pure coincidence, I did get a reply within an hour of this posting confirming the return of my credits.

@ canadiancow - I used the general CR submission not the e-upgrade specific one, so if general enquiries for public were 5-7 days, I thought a pretty simple request from status would be quicker but at least it was resolved properly unlike OP's request.

@ yul7075 - Two completely separate cases. YUL-YYZ-GRU was 31 December, zero space available issues, just tried to be blocked from upgrading by GAs not knowing that TAM ticket could be upgraded provided it mapped to T+. GRU-YYZ-YUL, GRU-YYZ not upgraded until gate hence I had not made advance request for YYZ-YUL as I did not wish to be stuck using 6 credits for that going through if GRU-YYZ did not.

Absolutely no issue with 34 credits being taken for the roundtrip, but it had been 40 until reversed.

I would have thought that both of these requests were common enough at least at the lounges used to dealing with E/SEs that they would not cause such great pains as they did.

On a positive note, another excellent year for using e-ups for me and family for which I am very grateful:

July 2 pax YVR-LHR
November 1x HNL-YVR and YYZ-LHR (YVR-YYZ on AC 34 failed on the through ticket HNL-LHR)
December 1x LHR-YYZ-YUL
December 1x YUL-YYZ-GRU
January 1x GRU-YYZ-YUL
January 2 pax LHR-YYZ

12/13 and 8/8 on intercontinentals. Both 2x pax were my parents who have no status. Those exasperated with leftover credits should look at days of the week and aircraft types when making their bookings to increase chances.