I have read this post with great interest as it shows how far we have come from the old days of "the customer is always right." Here the customer who purchased this case was right. The seller was wrong (and to his credit admits this).
The seller admittedly should not have used the recently sold case to ship a gun. However, to admit this wrong and apologize, the seller has only done half the right thing.
Using the case he sold to one customer to ship another's gun was more than bad judgment (but not quite theft because there was no intent to permanently deprive the customer of the item). Once that case left the seller to another customer's hands, the seller no longer controlled the condition, repacking of the case for shipment or the timing of the shipment to the rightful owner. The seller assumed the risk that the case would be damaged in transit or improperly shipped by the "middle man." The middle man will likely swear the case was just like the seller said it was as well as swear that he packed it and shipped it properly...it is in both the seller's and the middle man's best interest to do so (self serving statements).
The seller here chooses to believe the middle man over the customer of the case as if he (the seller) was the person entitled to judge by virtue of the fact that he now has the customer's money.
The seller to admit to making a mistake, apologize and to only offer a refund or paltry ($25) store credit wasn't nearly enough here. A reputable merchant would have not only apologized and admitted the mistake, but would have believed the customer and offered the customer a full refund of not only the purchase price but also all of the customer's out of pocket expenses (shipping charges and customs he paid).
Everyone makes mistakes and I am not suggesting that members of the forum were wrong to do business with this seller, or would be wrong to do business with him in the future. This was probably just a freak situation where the seller made a bad decision and like many of us, we are at our worst when we have done someone wrong. To err is human.
The seller here should call the buyer and the two of them should talk (honorable man to honorable man) and the seller needs to be forgiven and the buyer needs to forgive (for everything)---and if the seller would simply ask the buyer "what can I do to make this right with you" and do as the customer asked, I would expect we would all be witness to a happy resolution.
If the seller doesn't do this and soon, I suspect we will see this discussion degrade.
