goblinfootballs

I booked a trans-Pacific flight via WestJet that it operated by Qantas. I called Qantas to receive the Qantas reservation code so I could manage my booking and select seats. When I got to my booking, seat selection was unavailable. Calls to Qantas customer service had the same result. Repeated email exchanges with Qantas customer service have been largely unfruitful. Qantas even claimed repeatedly that it was WestJet's responsibility to release their block of seats before I could make my seat selection, which makes no sense to me, and is contradicted by conversations with WestJet. Then, Qantas offered to try to add seats of my choice to the booking. My seat selection did appear in manage my booking for about a week, then disappeared. The latest explanation about the lack of seat selection for this flight is "there is a fault in advanced seat selection on flights with a WS flight number, operated by Qantas," and that it is a known issue without a timetable for a fix.

Is there anything to Qantas' claims regarding their inability to allow me to select my seats?