I've only ever bought two custom sculptures so I can't offer a lot of advice on that part. It does seem this person has poor communication issues, and I'd thumbs up a beware on that. Failing to deliver advertised goods is also a really big no-no!

However, on the shipping, I'm not sure if a refund was in order for that. It's not just shipping, it's shipping and handling, which means any money she paid for the boxes and packing, as well as time packaging them, driving to the PO, maybe even insurance, should all be included in that. Maybe she overestimated, but I'm assuming you noted how much shipping was by the sticker on your package? So all that other stuff could be added too.

I wonder if shipping and handling has ever been discussed in a_b...