ICloud special rate for existing subscribers not available

Question

On 30 September my 25GB annual plan was due to renew, but instead it reverted to 5GB.
Two weeks previously, I had received an email from apple (11 September)
We recently announced new, more affordable iCloud storage plans. As a thank you for being a current iCloud storage plan subscriber, we’ve upgraded your storage plan and you will be receiving a refund based on the reduced plan price.
Your plan has been upgraded from 25 GB of total storage at £28.00 a year to 25 GB at just £7.99 a year. You will receive a pro rata refund of £1.15, which is based on the price reduction and the remaining months on your subscription. On September 30, 2014 this 25 GB plan will automatically renew and you will be charged £7.99.
We upgraded our storage plans so that you can get the most out of our new features like iCloud Drive - which lets you store and access any type of file from all of your devices. All edits you make are automatically updated, which means you’ll always have access to the latest version of all your documents.
If you need more storage, you can choose a different plan from iCloud Settings at any time, directly from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC. Learn more about iCloud storage pricing >
The iCloud Team
NB: This annually priced storage plan is only available to current iCloud storage plan subscribers. You may cancel or downgrade from your device at any time. If you choose to change to one of our new plans, you won’t be able to switch back to this annual plan. You can contact Apple for a refund within 15 days of an upgrade. Partial refunds are available where required by law.
Not only was the storage not renewed, I have not received the pro-rata, refund. (Nor any further communication for Apple)
So on the 1 October I contacted support and was promised a call back on 2nd October at 2:15pm.  This was subsequently changed to 3rd October at 3:15pm.  They didn't call so I rang them repeated everything and was then put through to a different advisor in Ireland.  He said he would have to raise a case with the iCloud team and their response time meant that it would 7th October before I heard back.
No call on 7th but did get a call back today - 8th.
Basically the response was the email was sent in error and there was no annual plan for existing subscribers.  I would have to revert to the new monthly plan.
Did anyone else receive the email about the annual plan?

Answer 1

Yes, I received it too, and was also downgraded due to allegedly inaccurate billing information.  I do not accept this, as I received the prorated refund to the same account that was allegedly out of date just over a week prior to my iCloud subscription being terminated.  There was apparently a billing glitch of some sort, as exchanges with an Apple support rep tell me that Apple Engineering was aware of the renewal issue.  The solution, which I do not accept, was to offer six months of iCloud for free than start charging the higher monthly rate.  Since my complaint was still not resolved when I was told the billing would start, I filed a complaint with the San Jose Better Business Bureau.