Question regarding SF Italian Consulate

I tried to book an appointment with the SF Italian consulate a few years ago but could never get through. Then I was told not to bother because I had a 1948 case. So, I did not try anymore until people started reporting recently that some judges had denied their 1948 cases because they had not first booked an appointment with a consulate. This does not make sense to me but I keep trying anyway. I always come up with the same notice that sayd something to the extent of "all spots are sold out". I usually get that regardless of whether I try to book an appointment for citizenship, a visa or anything. I actually got an appointment for a passport in January which I cannot use because I have not been able to even file a case yet. This is the only way I know that the system works. Today, I dod the same thing. Tried to ger a citizenship appointment but got the same notice of all appointments booked. Then I went and tried appointments for other things. I actually got into the appointment form for a Schengen VISA. I did not make an appointment because I do not need one. This was right at 3:30 Monday Sept 28th if anyone needs to know. I have 2 questions. #1. Has it always been like this - even before about 3 or 4 years ago? If I had not accidentally gotten into be able to book another type of appointment, I would have thought the server was down or the website was broken. Question #2. Now that I have this appointment in January for a passport that I will not be able to get, is there a way to ask for an extension on that appointment. If not, is there a way I can "give " the appointment to someone who needs it. If I cancel it, I do not even know if it will go back into the queue for someone else to try to book or if it will just get lost in the mass or knotted electrons in the website. Does anyone know? Thank you.