I take your point, but adding unnecessary time to a journey or flying Ryanair aren’t great alternatives.
I agree that EI slipped up, but I really don’t think other European airlines would have done any better. The BA app might have offered rebooking (maybe easyJet or Ryanair too?) but that’s not much good at 0100 post cerfew and agency staff at home in bed.
Its not that I think EI offered an acceptable level of service, but who would have done better?