Just skimming the top level of various back and forth claims, I can already tell this is one of those situations where there are too many variables, disparate communications, perspectives, individual recollections and partial retellings, all about a unique, one-off transaction, and all evolving over a significant period of time between individuals who are not deeply experienced business people - to confidently conclude anything about ultimate fault based on the currently available statements and posts.
Given this complexity and confusion, short of conducting a full court trial with months of document subpoenas and depositions under oath, IMHO, confidently believing you've arrived at a complete, objective understanding of who is right or wrong is as likely to be incorrect as it is correct. And, at this point, this probably holds true for most of the actual participants too.
I base this on decades of experience untangling screwed up business transactions and communications. No matter how thorough, credible and complete a certain retelling seems, I've often discovered there is another layer (sometimes even unknown to many of those involved) which changes enough to shift whatever I initially believed. I've had this cycle of "Aha, now I understand" / "Oh... wait. No I don't" repeat several times while digging through a single incident.
Given this complexity and confusion, short of conducting a full court trial with months of document subpoenas and depositions under oath, IMHO, confidently believing you've arrived at a complete, objective understanding of who is right or wrong is as likely to be incorrect as it is correct. And, at this point, this probably holds true for most of the actual participants too.
I base this on decades of experience untangling screwed up business transactions and communications. No matter how thorough, credible and complete a certain retelling seems, I've often discovered there is another layer (sometimes even unknown to many of those involved) which changes enough to shift whatever I initially believed. I've had this cycle of "Aha, now I understand" / "Oh... wait. No I don't" repeat several times while digging through a single incident.