QR is, by all reports, similarly inflexible when it comes to customer service.

Re: your change fees, are you certain they were actual change fees, or were they instead an additional fare difference to pay? There are three classes of Flex Plus fare, R,E,Y - although I appreciate that customers shouldn't have to know the intricacies of airline pricing, they are always transparent about the fact if you change a ticket you might have to pay a fare difference, on top of any change fees if applicable.

If you try and upgrade with cash online though it still automatically adds the fee even though it's not applicable - that's when it should be done over the phone or in person. I sense this is not really the case with your situation though...?