I feel your pain
@Gord M - we got burned by Lionel Persaud at Ram Western Express about 10 years ago or so and I'm still pissed off but life goes on. We tried our best to collect but it didn't work out.
However, you should still try to recover at least some of the money either from them or their customer. Too bad if the owner "doesn't want to talk about it". That's not a legitimate solution to an issue that needs resolving.
Business is business and if there was no mention of deductions or other charges when this whole situation was happening, then you are still owed money. Keep trying but do so with a cool head.
Social media, facebook, google reviews, etc are a good tool to let others know about the difficulties you are having. Just sayin'.