All I can say is I had my C fare earnings post with the normal delay after my flight completion and then received my downgrade compensation without even reaching out to the GS desk (difference between a Y and C fare, which on that route was nominal ~$300). Not sure if a "C" fare class is more ambiguous somehow but that anecdote happened seamlessly and without any direct interaction between me and the GS desk (they re-booked me while I was in flight on the inbound connection). Could be attributable to an agent just going above and beyond I guess.
Well, you didn't request ORC, so that sounds like a glitch in your favor. It may just be special treatment from a GS agent.
. But it sounds like you were booked into C class with a seat assignment forced into Y, and then retroactively re-fared to Y after the flight had posted as C. That's outside of policy but a nice result.