I was under the impression that some airlines do inhibit the last row of coach from being pre-assigned.

A post in the Delta forum says that DL blocks the last two rows in coach.

Meanwhile, I have a story in which I offered to switch and the offer was ignored.

I was flying PDX-MFR in a Jetstream 31, in which seating was 1-2. I was assigned to a seat in the 2-side side, with an empty seat beside me.

The row in front was the exit row. The two seats in that row were taken by a woman and a boy, possibly her son, who appeared to be about eight years old. The crew (co-pilot, iirc, as there was no FA) asked them to move, because the boy was too young for an exit row. They refused, then switched seats with each other - which made no difference. A complicated seat-swap discussion ensued with the passengers on the 1-seat side, to no avail. I offered several times, loudly I thought, to switch with them, but neither the woman passenger nor the crew member paid any attention. The boy was finally moved to the only other empty seat, but moved back as soon as the co-pilot wasn't looking.

Rather than asking me if I would move, the ......... controlling boyfriend was ordering the girlfriend to ask me. Right in front of me.

A few years back, when my daughter was about 1.5 years, I was traveling on biz trip to Asia; flying LH.

I got the business seat cause of work and I bought my wife an economy class ticket to travel with my daughter.

We took our seats, planning to talk to the FA, after departure of the flight to change our seats.

The part of the plane that my wife sat with my daughter was a window two seat side, so there was a man sitting next to her in the aisle.

I took my seat and told my wife and daughter to take theirs. When my wife took her seat with our child...I could see the aisle guy's expression that he would have to sit 9+ hours with a 1.5 year old lap child.

He did not look too pleasant.

Understanding this, I just went up to the purser and asked if we could just switch from the very beginning...I would sit in the window and wife would take the business seat. Purser says "no problem"....you should have seen the guy's expression of joy, when he heard that my daughter moved to business class with my wife.

Too bad...I could not sit with them....

You could have...just give the stranger the J seat. ;)

On a LHR-JFK flight,as I boarded the plane,I came across a gentleman sitting in my aisle seat. (Coach...way before I'd heard of FlyerTalk).
I explained to him that he was in my seat and he tried explaining to me in broken English (with a Russian accent) that he wanted to sit next to his wife and his seat was in the next row.

Having lived in Russia for 6 years, I speak fluent russian and told him in russian that it wasn't a big deal and I'd be glad to switch seats.

The lady in the next row overheard us talking and says to her neighbor in an audible whisper, "Oh my God what are they talking about in that strange language?" I looked at her and she rolled her eyes in apparent disgust (!?)
Normally I could care less, because I've dealt with a lot of racism in my time in Russia but the whole eye roll just got under my skin.

Turns out that the seat I was being offered to switch for was also an aisle seat and it was all good.
I take my seat and a few minutes later she taps my shoulder and asks me in a voice dripping with honey, if I'd be "so kind" to switch seats with her, because she likes sitting in the aisle seat.

Needless to say, I refused.

If one finds being asked for an uneven seat swap to be a "horror story," I wonder how that person copes with a real problem.

If one has trouble recognizing hyperbole, I wonder how one functions on a website full of it.

So liking something is a valid excuse? At least come up with an entertaining story!

I suspected this was hyperbole but maybe you were horrified!!!!!!!!!!!!

The story was so lame that it takes hyperbole to a whole new level.

After reading through this thread I am definitely thankful to have been pretty lucky when it comes to seat swaps. The closest I've come to an unpleasant swap is having my grandfather guilt me into swapping into 7B from 7D on a CO 73G so that an elderly couple could sit together for the 3hr flight.

On a C17... typical family reunification switch. I had a nice, cozy seat next to the loadmaster, someone asked me to switch so they could sit next to the family. I obliged and ended up in the very last seat on the plane, right next to the aft door and the ramp. Little did I know that on C17s temperature spread is minimum 20 degrees between the front and the back and feels more like a 50 degree spread. According to the crew, temp was on the low 40s back there and I wasn't dressed for that. It had to be the most miserable flight in my life, it made me forget all about how uncomfortable a jump seat is. Never again.

It's not a horror story, but this was my most recent experience with a seat change request.