In October 2007 I purchased an iPod via eBay in the US. The seller seemed trustworthy with many (>>100) transactions and a rating of 98.x%. But the iPod never shipped and I opened a dispute which was escalated into a claim. Here's a detailed overview of how this proceeded.
15 Oct 2007 Bought an 80GB iPod for US $199,99 + US $20,00 shipping. Seller is Ben Brown, Tallahassee, FL 32303 United States, known as eBay seller once.lost, email once.lost@hotmail.com. The item would ship in '2 to 4 business days'.
17 Oct 2007 Email from the seller: "They are drop shipped. When it ships you will receive email notification. Usually within 2-4 business days of purchase. Thanks for your purchase!!!"
22 Oct 2007 Email to seller: "Received no notification after 5 business days - when will it ship?"
22 Oct 2007 Email from the seller: "There was a delay due to bad weather here in pensacola. Please be patient as i am working to get everything back up to speed. You will receive your ipod. I promise. Just because you have not received notification does not mean that item has not been sent. We had tornados here last thursday and they did a lot of damage and caused me delays."
25 Oct 2007 Notification from PayPal that the package will be shipped as a PayPal shipment via U.S. Postal Service, however: "This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date."
28 Oct 2007 Email to seller: "When will it actually ship?" Got no reply to this email.
31 Oct 2007 Email to seller: "Please give me some feedback!" This mail bounced back: mail to 'once.lost@hotmail.com' can no longer be delivered.
1 Nov 2007 I opened a dispute for not received goods.
10 Nov 2007 I escalated the dispute into a claim.
19 Nov 2007 Email from PayPal indicating that the claim is under investigation.
9 Dec 2007 Email from PayPal. PayPal has taken a decision in my favor: the transaction is rolled back.
19 Dec 2007 Called PayPal to ask how the transaction is rolled back, because no money was written to my PayPal account: the credit card transaction is rolled back and the money is returned to my credit card (MasterCard). Called MasterCard: the money was indeed received.