Sure, as best as I can remember: I switched flights to a new time and paid an additional add/collect to confirm this new booking. The funds from the original flight booking (non-refundable, non-BE) were applied to the new booking, which generated a new e-ticket. The new booking was invol. cancelled on day of departure due to mx. The re-booked flight was 7h later than the original departure, which did not work for me, so I opted to cancel for a refund. United refunded the add/collect to my CC, but returned the rest of the funds in an FFC with expiration date 1-year from the date of ticketing of the original ticket. That is what I was questioning and asking for feedback on. United CS said the refund processing was appropriate, even if the reason for cancellation was on them.

Because I am not an MP member (use SQ or AC FF#), I don't see the transaction activity in my United account. But (having thought about the good input from others on this) I have to trace back the booking history in my e-mails to see if my switch to the new flights was a 'change', or a 'cancel and rebook' in which case I think I can buy United's argument for a return to FFC as being fair. If the latter, then I am indeed using non-refundable funds, and I've learned a lesson to remember to not do that. In my defense, I'd typically only 'cancel and rebook' over a 'change' if for whatever reason a simple 'change' flights was not yielding the same pricing I saw on Google Flights, for instance.