I'm happy to now report that a CSR called me back today (about 2 business days after my last call with them) to report that after management review they are able to confirm my mixed first/business class ticket for the expected discounted mile awared amount of 91k instead of the 108k miles(91k + 17K) they initially wanted to charge me. They were very nice during the entire process, however I don't think I should have had to spend this much time dealing with this type of problem. My buddy who is traveling with me ran into the same problem - hopefully that is resolved shortly as well.