Course cancelation with no refund policy stated

I registered to take a First Aid course with a non-profit group. The course was actually being taught by a company but was sponsored and organized by the group. A week before the course I was quite sick and attempted to cancel. I was told there was a no-refund policy. This claimed policy was not stated anywhere in the course advertisement,registration paperwork, or on their website. They do have a refund policy on their website concerning rental of their facilities but it does not refer to their educational courses. When I questioned their claim of the no-refund policy they offered a partial credit. When I again questioned their policy I was offed a credit again but for less. At this point I cancelled the check I had paid with, as it had not yet been cashed. I again questioned their re-fund policy/lack of one and was told they were taking me to Small Claims Court. At this point they stated "they make no money off the course". This seems to imply that the company that actually teaches it gets 100% of the course fee. If this is true I don't even understand how they can offer a credit of any kind at all and it also differs from their claim of no-refunds. Wondering where I stand on this as my understanding of MA Consumer Laws appears to say that since they don't clearly state a refund policy that they can't do this.