Good point, mia, although I hope it doesn't come to that! (As an aside, credit card users have more time than that to dispute charges, though the precise timeline varies by credit card.)

At the suggestion of the phone agent, I went to the airport (BOS) today to show my paperwork to an agent to get a refund there. I was disappointed to learn that they can't process refunds at the airport, which is not what the phone agent advised me. It would have been a total waste of several hours, plus gas, plus tolls, and plus parking, except that the VS agent at BOS was very nice, and did record in my PNR what she saw on my email confirmation. She also helped me fill out refund paperwork which she is mailing to the VS CT office.

All in all, I am very disappointed that I have to struggle so hard to get the refund to which I am entitled. I hope the saga does not drag on much longer (although I will be out of country for a few weeks, so I guess things will be on hold for a bit anyway).