Hoping for some clarification...

I'm a MP general level member with an upcoming flight to HKG. Looking to upgrade from economy to Business using miles and money. After reading the policy and checking on UA's website, I am confused about the refund policy. I have a domestic flight to ORD first, then onward on the international portion. The domestic flight is short, and I could care less about upgrading to First on that flight, but the long ORD-HKG flight is what I want Polaris for. By applying to upgrade, it includes both portions and they cannot be separated, obviously. When speaking to the UA rep on the phone, she stated that if upgraded to First on the flight to ORD and could not be upgraded to Polaris on the HKG flight, then I would be refunded some cash and 10,000 of the 30,000 miles. The rep didn't seem to know the answer at first and had to check with a coworker, so I'm not sure she realized it was a polaris flight and may have an exception. However, UA's website makes it sound like Polaris flights are a special case, stating...

"Your miles and co-pay are due at the time when you request an upgrade, even if you are waitlisted. We will automatically refund any miles, co-pay and taxes you paid if none of your flights are upgraded. In most instances, the MileagePlus Upgrade Award will be considered used if any segment of your travel is upgraded. However, if your travel includes requested upgrades to United Polaris® business class and none of the segments are upgraded, then your MileagePlus Upgrade Award will not be considered used, even if you are upgraded to United First or United Business on another segment. In these instances, we will fully redeposit your miles and co-pay. When applicable, these refunds will occur automatically seven to 10 days after travel."

So, am I misreading that Polaris upgrades are a special case, where the whole thing would be considered unused if only upgraded to Chicago? Or is the rep right, and they would charge me 20k miles + $ for the upgrade if Polaris doesn't come through for the HKG flight? 20k miles for a upgrade on a 90 min flight kinda sucks, but the policy seems so unclear.

Anybody have this experience?