Advice pls! How would you handle this situation?

Not sure what happened to the reply I tried to post this morning, so here's a similar version:

- If he is able to confirm that he is in the process of getting the necessary permits/paperwork, I would not have cancelled the transaction. While he didn't seem to have a good grasp of the process; I can't say that you've given the impression that you did, either. If you did know what was involved, you were somewhat remiss in not attending to some of the details with which you are now confronted.

- Why would you withhold shipping costs when you didn't ship. Yes, you "bought shipping"...but did you actually get charged for it? If so, I suspect that it was a fraction of what you paid - basically amounting to a small administrative and handling fee, since the package didn't actually go anyplace....and I wouldn't expect that unless they actually had to DO something to stop the package - ie, if it had left the facility, and had to get intercepted at the airport. I can print up a dozen labels this morning, each of which would represent a potential charge to my account; but I would not actually be paying for any of them unless I affix them to the box (which you did), present the box for shipment (which you did), and - here's the important part - unless the package gets sent. That last part didn't happen. I've dropped off a shipment in the evening, and picked it up the following day because it didn't go out...no charge to my account - it's possible that they've changed their method of dealing with that situation; but I think we'd have heard about it.
Check your credit card statement to confirm the charge, or check with SYR, before you make a bad decision.

Harald
No, I did not know anything about this process. That is something I really regret- tho I did tell him from the beginning I knew nothing about this but he assured me he did and had brought animals in before. It turns out he was not familiar with the CITIES process.
About shipping, are you saying that eventhough I purchased shipping I will not be charged unless I use it? Ill check my charges and if that is the case then I will refund the shipping- I had no intention of keeping any money from this, I assumed that money was already gone with the purchase of the lable. Thank you for that info I'll check it out.

Well, the charge is on my statement however I dug around in the SYR terms and policies and found that I may be able to get a refund because I never technically used my label. Thanks for the idea, I assumed before really checking into the situation. Hopefully I can get that refunded and in turn refund his $$

I request a refund from SYR and they were nice and professional about it. I'll get my money in 3-5 days so I went ahead and refunded him his shipping cost and sent him an email explaining what was going on.