word of advice....if someone is a jerk before a transaction (ie, critical, excuses, talking down to you) then guess what he will be a jerk after too!

Plenty of nice people from all over the world; no need to do business with crooks.

Always ask for documentation (ie, ask for scan of dated/itemized service invoice, or if he says no scanner/camera; have him mail you a copy, cost pennies)

Forum boards are generally NOT great places for bargains (mostly dealers sell to newbies) and forget about getting top price if you are selling)...plenty of picture request tire kickers.

Go to Germany ebay or top feedback US Ebay sellers.

I had a semilar issue (with a frequesntpposter/seller here);
seller/ebay/paypal/mastercard all were useless. The US Banking regulator got me my all $353 money back; seems my bank broke some rules in offering confusing/duplicative/circular claims process and i nailed them with the documentation.

Been buying/selling (8+ to our fine moderator Chuck) for 5+yrs with a 50+ collection of watches, seen it all.

First rule; if someone is rude, walk. You wouldn't buy from a store where the salesperson is rude...you would tell him/her to drop dead and enjoy standing on his/her fee for 10 more hours or going broke from selling trash.