This is going to be a really technical question regarding fare basis and a saga of refund issue, so please bear with me through the details.

I booked a ticket in the QA00A0RA fare class under the assumption that it was refundable/changeable (based on what my corp travel agency, Amex, told me). I ended up not taking the flight due to a weather delay and called the next day to get my refund. Amex tells me ticket is in DL's hands due to a reissue and to call them for a refund. I call DL and they tell me ticket is nonrefundable.

I contact our internal travel people to have them sort it out and get a refund. They got back to me yesterday saying that DL was incorrect and that a refund is now being processed. I headed over to expertflyer to check out the fare rules again and the only Q fare I found that was marketed on that date was QA00A0UA -- only one letter different than what I booked. This fare does indeed have a change penalty and is nonrefundable. I'm not sure what the actual rules were on the fare my ticket was booked on (ending in RA)

I'm wondering where the mistake happened -- did the DL rep pull up the wrong fare class (UA v RA)? For that matter, how can I find the fare rules for the RA fare? Finally, is there some glossary available to determining a DL fare basis breakdown?