Just to clarify, it they refund the 25k miles, they will almost certainly CANCEL the ticket altogether. The odds are almost nil that they would refund the miles and leave the modified itinerary in place.

This is what I have a problem with: if NW issued your ticket (that is, you used NW miles to purchase it) and you've contacted them to let them know the significant changes made to your itinerary were unacceptable, they would've let you change your reservation to the flights most ideal for you. If the agent doesn't comprehend or says no, ask to speak to a supervisor and explain the situation to him/her. If flight choices are unacceptable to you, cancel your ticket and ask for a refund.

I encounter this situation many times per a year for the tickets I've purchased way in advance -- I've never been denied a request and I doubt you would be denied either.

But you can't demand that NW refund your 25,000 miles for the inconvience you've encountered because they've made a schedule change (!) and charged you $10 (most US-based carriers are now charging these fees, even though their websites aren't "smart enough" to set-up complex tickets... if you choose to mix up NW, DL, CO, AS, etc. flights on a single ticket, you're going to have to pay the fee -- and that may be exactly what NW wants.).

I always look forward to schedule changes for tickets I've purchased less-than-ideal flights on -- b/c I always wind up getting the flights I want.

My experience exactly, although I've never had such an extreme schedule change.