I'm taking a stab in the dark here, but it sounds like you were charged a $200 change fee + $35.50 fare difference, maybe the agreed to refund the change fee but not the fare difference? Due to the lack of details in your post, I can't tell what happened. Let me ask some targeted follow up questions: What time were you scheduled to fly? What time did you arrive at the ticket counter to check your bags? Did your bags go on your originally ticketed flight, or another one later that day? Did you get to your destination? How did you get to your destination? What type of ticket did you purchase--(basic economy, regular economy, fully refundable economy, discount first, full fare first class)? Did you pay for seat assignments? How did you book your tickets? Did you use a travel agent? Was your ticket round trip, or one-way? What was the cost of the tickets you purchased? Did you receive any vouchers, for anything? If so, how many and for how much?

Please just provide the facts. It does not help to tell us repeatedly that you are having a lousy experience. We get that.

But, you have started in the middle of the story. What was the routing, what type of fare (refundable or not), was there a penalty of $200 assessed which has now been refunded. What is the extra $33.50 and where does that number come from?

As you can see, there are more questions now than there were when this started. It would be best to sit down, write this out in clear, short declarative sentences which someone who has no idea what happened can understand (that is us) and put that into a single post.

For what it is worth, AA customer service agents document their work. If you call back, do not expect to reach the agent with whom you spoke the last time and do not expect that person to call you back. Simply start by referring the agent with whom you are speaking to the fact that the issue should be described in your PNR notes.

Sounds like OP was late to the airport and upset he missed his flight and blames AA. My guess is that he barely made the bag cutoff (hence why AA checked the bags on), but was late to the gate due to security or who knows what. Likely flying from a base with limited service to SEA, and AA didn't have an alternate service that could reroute them to SEA in time (build a buffer for can't miss events like cruises/weddings people!). Chose to rebook on other carrier to make it to SEA on time, AA rightly informed him that his return would be canceled if he forfeited his outbound. Charged OP change fee to keep the return (and maybe fare difference?).

OP wrote in, complained, CS probably agreed to refund the bag fees since bags went without him on the flight (not even sure if OP is entitled to that). OP wants more. CS is stonewalling him.

How'd I do? This is just my best guess given the limited info OP shared. Most telling is OP admitting several posts up that he was late due to alleged dead battery.

That rule applies to international flights only. Domestically bags travel without the passenger quite frequently, especially in irrops

I think you may be spot on.

Adding my .02.to probably what happened-

1. OP and family were flying on tickets that allows Group 9 boarding only. NO WAIVERS, NO FAVORS, NO EXCEPTIONS

2. OP didn't allow enough time for the WHOLE process of from of getting to the airport to actually getting on the plane (with a party of 4).

3. Dead battery? It can happen, but it strains credibility. My last "dead battery" was in the Johnson administration (Lyndon, not Andrew). Perhaps a smokescreen to cover a tardy airport arrival?

That rule went out in 2003 for most US domestic flights.

And there are all complaints, and much more serious than yours...:D

Which rule are you referring to? The baggage traveling with the passenger?

While we should have the full context of the story, if the OP has a commitment in writing for a specific refund dollar amount($235.50 x 5) then it would seem a complaint to the credit card issuer is in order.

It sounds like:
1.) OP checked in for flight very close to the cut off due to dead car battery. Bags made it and flew, but they did not thanks to the pressure agents have to get the door closed on time. OP somehow got to their destination (perhaps on AA, or had to book other airline) and was then charged $235.50 to re-instate the return segment since they missed the outbound segment, which is likely $35.50 fare difference plus $200 change fee per ticket. Total $1177.50 . OP claims they received $200x5 ($1000)
2.) Refund of $30 x 4 checked bag fees. Total $120. OP claims they received $30x3 ($90)
3.) Lost luggage reimbursement was paid by check, but we don't know how much OP received and if that was part of the promised refund calculation AA gave.

My read is that OP received $1090 in refunds, and expected $1177.50. OP also received an unspecified amount via check for lost luggage.

So my advice to OP is:
1.) look at the email for exactly what amount AA promised you.
2.) add up what you received as a refund to credit card.
3.) file claim with credit card issuer for the difference.

They were generous refunding the fees for re-instating your return ticket price once you didn't show for your outbound. Yes, it wasn't your fault if the car battery died, but it wasn't their fault either so if they refunded this, that was a nice gesture. There are all sorts of reasons people miss flights, some of them are out of control of both the passenger and the airline. This is when AA can sometimes have some compassion and waive the fees.

If that's the case, all of this drama is over $87.50?

And I now think there is no unused value on the tickets, which is why he's not getting a refund related to his # 1 point above. The r/t tickets were likely exchanged for o/w tickets.

Stuff happens. I was supposed to drive my wife to the airport a few months ago and I planned on using her car to do it. Got in and the battery was dead. So we took my car instead. I don't think it's THAT unusual to have a dead battery..

Thank you so much to those who actually had good intentions and tried to be helpful. Your sincerity (and time) is greatly appreciated.
I got the information I needed rather quickly. Although there was some unnecessary whining and venting included in my post, my need was extremely straight-forward and simple — if I am not getting what I need from AA CR, is there a next step up the line that I can escalate my challenge. There was never a question on whether AA was wrong and if a refund was justified, or how much the refund should be. I think my need was way too simplistic for this forum. There was no code to be deciphered. No case to be cracked. Just needed a very simple answer - yes or no, and if yes, who/how.
And although I did not post it correctly (with original quote), my "not helpful" comment, which I shouldn’t have written, was directed specifically at the comment, “How many emails have AA sent you? I doubt it is 11. Peppering them with multiple messages per week is not likely to help the situation.” If someone has true insight, by all means, share, but being snarky isn’t helpful (nor was my snarky response, obviously).
Again, thank you to those who genuinely tried to help. There were some very mean-spirited things written by others. Rest easy guys, I won’t be back.

I am happy I live in a heavy Uber/Lyft area. Unless it is a weekend trip, I take Uber to DFW from south Arlington, for $40 or less. I had a battery issue before work one morning, and it was a day I had to be there, so I used Uber. Pickup time is generally under 10 mins. I also try to arrive at the ticket area well in advance.
This is especially useful as sometimes the return flight goes to a different terminal. I will still point out that if you pay in advance of arrival, you can get good rates on parking next to your terminal.
On the OP's issue. I agree the amount in the issue isn't very large, and OP did miss their flight due to no fault of AA and apparently decided to not wait for AA to put them on a new flight, as would normally be done. We do not know exactly what was promised, but of course, an AA mistake is possible. I don't think anyone on this group is going to be able to help, unless they are a lawyer and go to court or maybe send a demand letter. OP might get a better result by sending a message to AA via Twitter or FB. I was successful in that after 8 AA employees I had talked to before couldn't undetstand the wording of how to use a credit from an international itinerary. It clearly stated only the AA segment of a TATL had to be over water, but they took it to mean all segments had to be, which would be odd since the cancellation was a BA to AA pairing. And, logically, of course, passengers would also assume a credit from that itinerary could be use to book a similar itinerary. Of course, if OP is still not happy, a Small Claims Court action could be filed, I don't think this much stress is worth $87

I am glad you are satisfied. And sorry your trip wasn't perfect.

As I mentioned up thread, we here have lots and lots of experience, knowledge, insight, and resources. No offense to you, but most times, the vitriol, snark, and sheer outrage of a first time poster is either a case of not knowing how the system works, or sadly, someone who is trying to get away with something. Happily, in your case, it turned out to be neither.

Fly safely (in the future).