Thanks. I'll try calling next week.

You're right that airlines seem to love to try to get out of paying, but I'm not sure anything else could be expected. Businesses want to maximize profits, and paying out compensation to customers is a deadweight cost. Perhaps if customers were entitled to additional punitive compensation if the airline incorrectly/unreasonably withheld compensation initially, and/or airlines were subject to fines in those circumstances, they might do things correctly at the first attempt more often. Who knows. But I share your frustration. I, for example, was told that my >3-hour delay at destination (YVR-CDG-BCN) was due to delays in checking in customers/baggage at YVR, even though the inbound aircraft left CDG late, resulting in my connection being re-booked long before AF's check-in desk at YVR even opened. Sure, we spent a few extra minutes, after boarding was completed, for all the bags to be loaded, but those 15 minutes had nothing to do with me arriving late at BCN.