You have my sympathy, but I cannot say I am surprised by the way you have been treated.
From my own experience, and from what I have read here and other boards -It would appear that the vast majority of redemptions on partner airlines are either very difficult, or worse.
IMHO, it is extremely poor that in the 21st century bookings can't be done in seconds with a few clicks on a computer keyboard, especially when 'partner airlines' are supposed to be part of a growing global brand, and share first name.
Having said that, my recent experience of trying to book VS rewards using VS miles on VS metal online resulted in having to abandon my computer in frustration with endless error message and resort to phone calls.
It didn't get much better booking revenue flights on line either - that resulted in more error messages and going back to the phone.
It does make me wonder how much revenue VS misses out on due to its creaking IT infrastructure?
Nick