Cheap ticket now Took a 1/3 of 100% refunded ticket from airline.

BUYER BEWARE! I booked a flight through them, round trip from TN to AZ for $296. The ticket was non refundable through American Airlines. Because of COVID and travel not being on the top of my list (originally a vacation at the Grand Canyon) I called AA to ask how long was my ticket good for and they informed me that $296 had been refunded to a card that the last four numbers didn’t belong to me.

I called cheap flight now and told them of my conversation with AA, they checked and it was refunded to their credit card. The agent put me on hold for about 10 minutes and came back acknowledging the refund and said they would refund me $194. I told them AA refunded the full amount, I was told at least I was getting something back on a non refundable ticket. So I asked, it’s your company that’s taking a $100 and he said yes.

Why???All of the ticket amount was refunded, what reason should they get $100 for booking a flight. Maybe $50 for their time, but over a 1/3? Where’s the empathy for the trials the WORLD is?