The other party, after being silent for months, refunded me outside of Betreibungsamt and then went for a Rechtsvorschlag, which means a Zahlungsbefehl reached me shortly after the refund, and I now have to pay about 25% of the initial amount I was being owed.
As I understand, if I cancel and pull out the Betreibung, the debt is removed from the other party's records, and I still have to pay the full amount on the Zahlungsbefehl, so in the end I am still at a disadvantage.
However, I've been told that if I pay the Zahlungsbefehl, this amount should get added to the amount that is being owed, and stays on record if the judge then decides the Betreibung has been rightfully initiated. In this case I should contact the other party and ask for the Zahlungsbefehl amount to be reimbursed in exchange for this whole mess to be canceled.
Wondering if there's any advice from someone who went through a similar situation. Thanks!