AA's response is very lacking. Yes, I understand CR is mainly for post-travel, but c'mon, it looks like regular Reservations can't do much/anything at this point, so CR should have taken a closer look and/or at least spoke with a top manager at Reservations to see if anything could be done.

With that said, did you try calling and acting dumb, as suggested upthread? It may not get you anywhere, but you've got nothing to lose by trying.