burnt by classifieds

i posted a racquet for trade. i sent my racquet to the person who responded to the trade. he received the racquet and decided it was not an even trade and wanted $25 extra. i sent the money, he deposited it, and then decided to trade/sell with someone else. claiming i was rude (i'm out a racquet and $ and waited 1 month), I'm at a loss as to what to do. does tw have any suggestions?

[Steve Huff]

Post his name, address, phone, email and anything else you know about him. Even if you were rude (and I'm not saying you were), that's no reason to not finish the deal. After the deal is made, you're basically in a binding contract. At the least, if he doesn't like the way you're dealing, he needs to send everything you've sent him back to you. Secondly, he was being dishonest by not sending out a racket in the first place. You were taking just as much of a chance as he was. Anyway, post all you know about him. Maybe some honest guy who see's this may live right down the street from him. It's a small world.

[Shane Reynolds]

I would also file a police report with your local police department. If you're lucky, they will follow up on it or at least give you enough information to sue the guy in your local magistrate court. Don't even listen to any crap about being rude - whether you were or weren't is irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the agreed-upon deal and each side living up to it. You might also talk to a Postal Inspector since at least your check (if not the racquet also) went through the mail system - they take mail fraud pretty seriously.