Out of pocket due to airline cancellation

Two weeks before we were due to fly to Sydney from Johanesburg, Etihad cancelled two of the flights we were booked on and re-routed us on alternative flights.<br> Consequently, our domestic flights were affected and we had to re-schedule them, which cost us an extra<br> R3 078,00, because they were booked way ahead of time when we got the international flight times.<br> When I approached Etihad on their facebook page, they just weren't interested - I think the least they could have done for the inconvenience was to upgrade us - as it was, we were in transit for a total of 31 hours !