...Finally today someone bothered to reset the server, so that the purchase finally went through on the fourth attempt. Of-course, the website would not let me pick emergency exit row seats for free so had to call them back. It took a while to convince the agent that OW Sapphires should not be charged for seating preferences. I was put on hold and on a queue that played the French voicemail menu. I thought that was punishment for my impertinence but amazingly he returned and confirmed the seats...

BTW, whenever I ask, the agents insist they are located in Madrid. Nevertheless they all seem to have Andean (Peruvian/Ecuadorian) accents and often have trouble recognising Spanish towns.