Tardis_mom

I am trying to figure out how something like this happens - computer glitch or what? We paid for 3 exit row seats on a recent transcontinental 8-hour flight. We booked these seats about 10 months in advance of our trip date, got the confirmation showing our seat selection, and thought everything was fine. When it came to getting our boarding passes, we got 2 boarding passes for the exit row seats and 1 for a regular seat. When we asked the gate agent about it, she told us to take it up with the airline. The man in what was our former exit row seat said that his wife bought his ticket 7 months prior to the flight. I understand that a paid exit row seat can be given away if an air marshall needs it (and I am fine with that possibility) but this man was not an air marshall, but a regular flyer. (yes, I requested a refund for the cost of the exit row seat, I am just trying to understand how this happens).