Originally Posted by
IAH-OIL-TRASH
If I was in that situation, I would call it an upgrade. The semantics can sit in E-.
I understand it's semantics, but the OP was using it in a way that showed he thought it was a mistake on UA's part, and something that would have the potential to not be honored upon arrival to airport. If you know that E- and E+ are still the same class of service and that it's not an "upgrade" from one to another, then there'd be no reason to question a random or unexpected seat assignment in E+.