AstroMart Deal gone bad, Part II

Well, a follow-up to my AstroMart deal gone bad story from January. I can not believe how some people can sleep at night. How can anyone involved in our relatively small hobby be so completely deceptive and unscrupulous and devoid of morals and honor? Considering all the nice people I have done business with on here and or interacted with I am just really disgusted with this individual and the blemish he puts on the AA community.

Summary Recap (very abridged version to save space):
Dec 14, 2002 replied to ad for AP finder bracket
Dec 17, sent certified funds to pay for item
Dec 24, emailed asking about shipment had not received
Dec 27, emailed again asked to check status
Dec 28, asked to check with USPS (we are in same state)
Dec 30, emails me saying he shipped to wait more time
Dec 31, I ask for proof of delivery
Dec 31, Leaves false and slanderous feedback on AstroMart alluding that I got item and am lying about it
Dec 31, I leave feedback indicating person is not willing to provide proof of delivery or accept responsibility
Jan 2, 2003 I post on AstroMart asking for advice with out using names guy goes nuts and emails me about a dozen times using slander, questioning my "manhood?" etc..
Jan 3, I guess shamed from AstroMart replies changes tone and asks for 30 days to file claim w/USPS
Jan 3, I agree to give him till Jan 20th to provide proof of delivery, refund money or send out product.
Jan 13, emails me asking if package ever arrived, NO
Jan 13, asks me to make out letter stating I never got and mail to him. I state I will gladly comply
Jan 20, My letter goes out
Jan 25, claims never got my letter
Jan 27, I send 2nd letter w delivery confirmation
Jan 30, USPS shows 2nd letter delivered
Jan 31, Guys claims never got letter although USPS shows delivered to his address???
Feb 03, I send 3rd letter certified
Feb 12, Letter sitting in his local post office unclaimed (here is USPS claim number 7002 0510 0000 5107 5308)
Feb 12, I again ask for my refund, proof of delivery or product
Feb 12, Guy emails saying "I have not gotten any mail from you, and if you have something signed please tell me who signed it. Since we both know that I never signed more did anyone at this address sign for anything from you"
"Tarnishing my rating, and now you want all of the money"
Feb 28, USPS returns my 3rd letter unclaimed.

If you read this far you must be as shocked as I am, how can a fellow AA be so down right deceitful and dishonest. I try to help him with his claim it is just a ploy on his part to play this thing out which ends up costing me even more money in postage and certified letter fees. So what do we do with these unscrupulous people that tarnish our hobby and great places like AstroMart?

So one more time what do we do to protect others from guys like this? Maybe we should put up a forum to post / air out problems in dealings or to flag AstroMart abusers? What do you think?

I posted this on "equipment" forum originally but I realized this may be a better place for it.

Jorge, very sorry to hear about your negative experience. Although I am a relatively recent arrival here, it is easy to see that Astromart is a wonderful resource, and the people running it are great... as are most of the people who contribute to and benefit from it.

It seems that there are, however, always a small percentage of individuals within any large endeavor who don't appreciate the necessity of maintaining the high moral conduct that it's success hinges on. I think the User Ratings are helpful to some degree in identifying that sort of person who none of us would knowingly care to deal with. For my own part, on larger $$$ items, I prefer to step up the amount of communication via e-mail and telephone contact prior to beginning an actual transaction, in an effort to get some more knowledge of who I am dealing with.

In a different, and less overtly irresponsible vein, I've noticed that there are people using Astromart very heavily (among the Top Astromart Users) who benefit from it without feeling the need to give anything back to it in the form of becoming Astromart supporters. I don't really understand that mindset...

In a situation where the honor system is the main glue that allows everything to work smoothly, how is the whole protected from a tiny rather "sociopathic" fringe element? I wish I knew... Maybe someone else can shed some light on this. In the meantime, I will of course continue to enjoy being an active part of this wonderful thing called Astromart. I'll also take what steps I can to be sure I am dealing with solid folks, and I'll hope I don't run into someone like you did Jorge.