Absolutely, you should complain first regarding these expenses but keep in mind, you need to show a) you had pre-purchased tickets and b) if you had the boarding passes you would have still be in the flight and it would not be considered full.  You should first speak with the airline's corporate office first and explain what occurred. Make sure you have all of your ticket and pass stubs to show what occurred. It may take a bit of time, but by the sounds of it, the airline should at the very least refund you your monney for the extra tickets.