This is an easy one.
Mike needs to take a pic of the kite and show us the spars removed (sounds like it was not possible to remove them).

I too am not trying to start a fight, but one thing has become ABUNDANTLY clear to me in the last year. On the internet, he said/she said is a losing situation, because facts are conveniently left out or tweaked. It's quite sickening.
It's the primary reason I don't say too much about "situations" anymore. It's sort of pointless when people take lying so lightly.

In this case, a simple pic of the kite will solve the issue of whether the spars are in there. Right?

I have known Bryan an awful long time. He is not perfect. But, the last thing I would ever expect of him is to purposefully lie to make a buck.
I have seen him just give stuff away or sell it at a loss, so that sounds way out of character.

If the spars are gone and the zippers aren't totally torn to shreds, I will PayPal this guy 40 bucks and help to resolve the issue.
Bryan has been known to forget on occasion.
I have no idea what the original conversation was, and don't care. I haven't called Bryan and asked him about this... again, I don't care.
Bryan has given me well over 40 bucks of burgers, drinks and kite stuff over the last 6 years.

If no pic comes up on here, or if one does, but the region where the spars were look like wolves attacked it, I won't be too impressed.
If it comes up with no spars and the area is clear, Mike will get his money today using PayPal.

I still remember when the kiting community was small and relatively tight knit. We all knew one another. Those days are long gone.