The ticketing agent needs to handle it for you, unless you are getting a refund as an exception. I know with United we can issue the refund for any ticket if delay is more than 2 hours.
The bottom line is to get a knowledgeable agent willing to help. The only time the airline can absolutely not do a refund is when it is a NET fare paid with a check by the agency (they can't see how much you paid for it). Otherwise the airline just doesn't like taking responsibility for tickets not issued by them.
Trying Twitter is always a good idea. (Chucksterrace)