I'm going through a similar ebay beef with a $#%@ in Hong Kong, except the dollar value is closer to US$210.
The seller has been giving me a song and dance about how there were public holidays that delayed shipping, a rejection of the item once it arrived here in Australia by our local Customs Bureau and then they apparently it was sent back to HK. I know for a fact that this is bull*****!
Australian Customs told me that they would have contacted me to resolve any query on the item's declared value.
The tone of my emails to this
gimp has gone from mildly annoyed to pretty pissed off and I'm starting to wonder how cheap mercenaries are in Hong Kong. I won the item on Sept. 30, paid overnight with PayPal and 23 days later, I still haven't seen the item after paying through the eyeballs for 3-5 day Express International Shipping.
I've done plenty of international transactions on ebay without fuss in the past, so to say I'm furious would be an understatement. I'm tempted to give ebay all away. Mark, I feel your pain, buddy.