Seller ethics question

I had a couple of deals recently that didn't go through smooth or not at all and I wonder if I'm too sensitive or out of line as I've been told. The latest one is:

I responded to an ad "I'll take it" and received a "Sounds good to me. My paypal info: . I will need your shipping info."
Paid within hours and emailed the info requested (although is quite obsolte, as paypal will show this).
Two weeks passed, no mail. I inquired in emails, direct & via astromart, no reply. Another week later I open a dispute on paypal. Within hours the seller comes forward and says he never sold to me, allegedly emailed me so and sold to someone else. But quickly refunded the money.

But I'm still disgrunted, as I think he was still negligent, even if he never got any emails from me nor from paypal as he claims: Notice the incomeing payment on paypal (it clearly said what it's for) and not rest until he got this fixed.
I think a neutral (3 star) rateing for this is still generous. Opinions ?
Michael

From the way you tell the story, you had a good deal and it should have gone through. Why did you wait more than a day or so to contact him and ask the status?

Alex

I would give him 2 stars because he refunded, but I would explain the entire transaction including the non coummunication and lack of immediate refund as soon as the item was sold to another. He should have refunded with explanation within hours of recieving the payment, because he knew he was not suppose to get the money from you.

I think clarification from Herb would be helpful.

The rules say the rating system is only supposed to be used for completed transactions.

While you did your part to complete the transaction, in the end, the seller completed a transaction with someone else.

Last I knew, there wasn't a loophole for people in your situation. There might be a good reason for it, or it might be this kind of situation hasn't been looked at yet.

Otherwise, getting back to confirm a purchase as soon as possible is a good idea. When I respond to an ad, I'll try to stick around for a while to see if they reply quickly. If they say I can have it, and take Paypal, I'll respond immediately to say I'll be sending payment momentarily. If the seller happens to be near the computer when I first respond to the ad, the whole thing could be wrapped up in under 10 minutes.