Yes. I can normally pick the accent and sometimes I ask.
Anyway, I thought I would try again earlier. Not one to give up.
This time through to a British chap who said he was in HB. I did also ask him if he was ok.
Anyway, bit of chit chat about what I was trying to do and he informed that it is kind of correct that the flight was only available for new bookings. Therefore what the agent needs to do is email OneWorld or Finnair and ask for it to be waitlisted as a connection (or similar wording) and can take up to 24 hours.
However within a couple of minutes he said it has come back as approved.
Same amount of points and an $8.70 refund.
The overseas call centres really are a shambles...
Was it an AY to AY connection within 24 hours? Could be true in that case (married segments).
That said… does anyone believe an email would come back in a few minutes?