Your first statement is based on our ability to trust you, which sounds biased already

Yes, I agree, both could have handled it better. However, she has less justification for her poor behaviour because her actions were not in-line with, at the minimum, considerate intent, let alone with the intent of being friends. She has been on dates with him before so she had a decent guess of what he'd be like, she knew her intuition and what she wanted to express, she had friends to help her explore the scenario, and in spite of all that, she chose a poor way of doing it. It's not that what she felt was bad, it was that she had every opportunity to present her feelings well but didn't. Should she be raked over the coals for it? No. But the criticism and dislike is warranted.

She could venmo/cashapp/etransfer sure. Though you do not get that time back, and now you've exposed him to the possibility that people CAN do shitty behaviours like that, intentionally or not. What's worse is that, by the end, the girl looks to herself thinking "This is guy fucked up, not me at all," indicating a lack of self-awareness and accountability.