If you paid with a credit card, you should do a chargeback
I suggest you request a refund first. While I doubt you will get anywhere you need to show the card company that you tried to resolve with the company before doing chargeback.
Even if the amount is small, it is worth doing this on a point of principle. The root cause is EI's decision not to invest in technology
Will do. Doesn't help that the priority check-in was closed for the morning earlier this week due to the troubles they were having.