I knew you weren't defending the breeder in this particular instance. I have just heard that excuse a number of times before in the world of ball pythons, and I just don't think it flies ... About the only time where there's a grey area, in my opinion, would be in the case of an otherwise reputable breeder making a mistake on a heterozygous animal that then gets re-sold. In that case, I would say that some of the blame lies on the original seller as well as the buyer who re-sold the animal ... Though, even that still isn't an excuse for selling a misidentified animal.