Yeah, IT can be slow - and this might be some more "revenue enhancement" by AA.
I didn't actually say I requested the refund, merely I used the
Refunds site to check the detailed fare rules. Not so sure this works any longer, because the ticket I attempted to do this on requires I contact AA and the system will not display detailed fare rules to me. However, it does show a receipt, and when I use the "Request a Refund or Receipt" I get the actual fare class: the segments are all IR14SL, except for one tagged as IR14SL/ALVIP). With this I can use other services to determine the full fare detailed rules.
"Ticket/Flight Coupon Refunds
Our Ticket Refund Site at www.refunds.aa.com* gives you access to the following options:
Request a refund online
You will receive immediate feedback about the eligibility of your ticket and be presented with options regarding your ticket and refund request.
This option will also allow you to view a copy of your ticket which you can print for records/expense reports.
Lost Ticket Application
If you have lost your paper ticket/flight coupons, choose this option.
Check Refund Status
Use this feature to check status on previously submitted refund requests.
Find Ticket Number
Use this feature to find UNUSED TICKETS that are LESS THAN 13 MONTHS OLD.
There's also a handy Help page
here, which could be useful to some with questions.
I would have thought of it as temporary, but it's been a couple of weeks now. I know that the AA IT team are not the best on the planet, but they're better than this at fixing these sorts of issues...if they want to. Gotta wonder.
As to the original question, I can't speak to actual refunds as I don't do that. When I've changed tickets and done it as a voucher, I've always gotten back everything I've paid, less the applicable change fee, and been able to apply this full value to a new ticket. So, there was nothing extra kept in these cases.
Cheers.