anabolism

I booked QR8 LHR-DOH for next year. Plane is showing Q-Suites. I called QR about 10 days ago and the agent happily and quickly assigned us 3EF. However, there was a problem that caused a delay of over a week in reissuing the e-ticket, during which QR cancelled our space. The airline rebooked us and reissued the ticket, but now when I call QR the agents tell me they are unable to assign any blocked seats "until close to departure." They suggest setting an airport check-in alert to let airport staff know our request, but obviously I'd much rather have confirmed seat assignments. The QR agents see that we were booked in 3EF and that QF8 was removed and then re-added, but they say they cannot put us back in the seats.