I had to change the date (and itinerary) of a ticket. There was a $150 penalty and the new route was $27 cheaper. I read that there is no $ refund if the new date/route is cheaper than the original but a voucher with the difference will be emited. Instead of that, the phone assistant directly offered me to deduct that amount from the penalty and charged $123 for the change.
Is this the normal way? Was it done as is easier to discount it than make a voucher?