That's heartless. To some buying a dog isn't just a transaction- it's a life choice.
It's not heartless, it's a cold hard fact. Buying this dog WAS a transaction. Money was exchanged, i.e. a purchase was made, i.e. a TRANSACTION was preformed.
I am sorry but you cannot form a "real" bond with a dog in less than 24 hours and before you say it can.... what would have happened if this dog and the other older one did not get along? Would it have been returned then? Or would the owner have made both dogs exist in misery because they loved it too much from a less than 24 hour bond?
When you buy a dog and there is a problem you have a duty to inform the breeder, if at that point (less than 24 hours later) if you don't want responsibility for a problem you return the dog to the breeder and ask them to take care of it.
If this dog had turned out to hate the new home and chew a hole in the wall, would you people expect the breeder to pay for the damages? What if the dog suffered a stroke? would the breeder be responsible for that too? should the breeder have known there was a blood clot waiting to break loose and cause a problem in the dog? If the dog had had a stroke the next day would the buyer have kept the dog or returned it for the breeder to take care of the problem?
An ear infection is not life threatening. The vet misdiagnosed the original problem. If the vet misdiagnosed the issue then how on earth can a breeder be expected to diagnose it correctly. They answered the owner's concerns as best as they could over the phone. If the owner did not like that answer they could take the dog to see the breeder or get a second opinion. Which they did and that opinion wound up being wrong, costing them money that did not need to be wasted. I don't see any one expecting the vet to re-emburse the owner for the misdiagnosis and for the emergency vet costs all which could have been avoided on the first visit if the problem had been treated correctly.
And as "scary" as this diagnosis sounds, it can and is treated with a 17.00 tube of ear antibiotic. It is not an uncommon or unusual problem and the rod shaped negative gram bacteria is found in water and dirt ANY WHERE.