Metcard Customer Service: is this an oxymoron?

I recently damaged - accidentally - my 10 x 2 hour trips Met ticket. It got a bit squashed in my bag, then a validation machine chewed it up a bit more. I'd only used 5 trips, and then it didn't work any more.

Today I trotted off to the Camberwell Station, to arrange a replacement or refund of the unused portion of the ticket.  The gentleman behind the counter responded to my enquiry by barking,

"Refund?! We don't give refunds!"

I told him I was surprised to hear that, as had I checked online, where Metlink website said there was a procedure.  Before I finished the sentence, the Metlink employee had reached into a filing cabinet behind him, and pulled out the relevant form. He shoved it - I use the term advisedly - through the grille and glowered at me the while. I thanked him politely. If I had not done my homework, I would have walked away convinced he was right. Cheeky blighter. That's the oxymoron.

The form is was designed by a schizophrenic committee. It comes with a reply paid envelope attached, so that we customers can make our application free of charge (good customer service).  It also requires us to list a variety of details such as exactly where we bought the ticket, for what price, at what time of day and write the ticket serial number even though we enclose the ticket (bad customer service - this is not relevant, surely).  It offered a refund for situations such as illness or injury, not merely from accidental damage (good customer service). It states that if the magnetic strip cannot be read, there will be no refund (bad customer service).  It insisted that we keep a tear-off receipt of our ticket claim, which made me wonder how often such claims are "lost" (ostensibly good customer service which is in reality bad customer service).

I wonder how many people actually claim refunds or replacement? The process is discouraging, even without helpful Metlink staff attempting to 'protect' their employer's interest.

It remains to be seen how long it takes to obtain my refund or replacement ticket. My best guess is a month. Which is fine, because I'm on my high horse and my soap box now.

I can't help wondering why it wasn't possible to simply pay half the purchase price of a new 10x2hr ticket, provided I "cashed in" my damaged ticket. That seems simpler, and wouldn't leave the Metlink company out of pocket in any meaningful sense. Certainly less out-of-pocket than they will be by the time their department receives and processes my claim and posts me out a response.

EDIT: a couple of weeks later I received my replacement tickets in the post, with a polite form letter. Four 2 hour tickets and one Daily ticket.