Well, yes, the passenger was unable to travel in the planned cabin for that flight . I am not overly surprised with EK's response given that it was changed in the schedule and so passenger was rebooked into business rather than a last minute unscheduled change.

Whether I think that their response indicates a generosity is another matter.

As far as mileage earning goes, it actually sounds that the passenger ( other than a potential that the system screwed up in awarding miles if it credited saver when a flex was purchased .... but that is likely easily resolved and is the type of screw up that can happen anyway ) actually did receive the miles applicable for a 1st class travel between the origin and destination