Jesse, I've also been ripped off buying a cage. It was sort of my fault though. This lady had an ad on craigslist with a photo of a beautiful cage and I called and she told me it was sold, but she had another one and would included basically everything I'd need - perches, toys, etc. all for
$250. She said she paid
$450 for it a couple months ago. I thought that was a good deal. She drove 45 minutes to deliver it as I had agreed to pay for gas. She brought her husband, son, and dog with her. I was so distracted trying to make sure my dog and her dog weren't going to fight and also pressured for time since they had parked in the road that I saw the cage, it looked good and everything, so I handed the money over and she left. As soon as she left I was so MAD at myself. There was no pull out tray like she promised, no feeder doors. It didn't look like a bird cage, so I looked it up online and eventually found it. It's a ferret cage that some people use for birds that
costs $150 brand new. But as you can see, there was absolutely nothing I could do, so rather than getting worked up about it I didn't even call her. I was very good.
I wanted to cuss this lady out. Turns out, thanks to pchela's help that this cage is used for disabled birds. Also, I had to order a replacement tray for the bottom that cost $25 and on top of all of that, I used like 2 of the things she brought because the rest were all stained with bird poop.
Looking at your situation, I realize that it could have been a LOT worse! But I'm very glad you're getting a refund, I can't believe they would ship it to you in that condition. That's awful.