I charge a non refundable deposit to weed out the serious buyers from the ones who just say they want one, but when it comes down to picking the puppy up, they every excuse in the book why they can't complete the sale. I even had a friend tell me she would buy 2 of my females, then every week it was "Can you keep them 1 more week for me?" I finally told her I decided to keep them myself. She doesn't even speak to me any more!!
oh well. If I had a puppy that died before delivery and I couldn't replace the puppy in a couple of months, I would give them their money back, or if they didn't want to wait until the next liter I would give their money back. I wish you all the best.