So the credit card company has no obligation to verify the complaint BEFORE taking back the money? I guess there is no real easy answer. Sorry to hear you got ripped of Hitman.
Maybe setting up a feedback section with a for and against experience bit like ebay has (but none of that withdrawn crap) would be a better idea.
Ie. Have a seller title (eg Hitman), people can then log on after their transaction and leave feedback with a + or - rating. Then rather than sorting through a hundred threads researching each seller, the potential purchaser can just look up the seller, see how many positive, how many negative and make up their own mind. I know it just gets more and more complicated, but, it seems like a pretty hot topic.
As a purchaser, it would be nice to have a site without any bias (obviously ebay has a vested interest in protecting its seller to a degree to keep the site running) that you can check on when looking.
Any ideas on a better, less complicated model? I know that it is best to call, see, meet the seller etc.. But unfortunately, in the real world, we are all to busy busting our but working to make enough money to survive, and hopefully have some left for our beloved trans am. I live on the other side of the world, thus, I kind of have to trust the ebay rating and take a punt.
I hope we can come up with a productive outcome, and help both buyer and seller.
Cheers,
Mark.