UPS refundable additional insurance fee? SCAM

that is a twist on a common scam. I knew a guy that bought a fancy pit bull on line that had to be shipped via air. He paid big bucks for the dog. Then when the dog got to the airline the airline claimed the carrier was not correct for air mailing a dog. He sent another 250 bucks to upgrade the carrier. The whole thing was a scam to the tune of around $2500.00