That seems like a proportionate response for some missing string.
ebay advises a ten day wait period before taking action which he would have had the day after I enquired where my string was.
Registered Post does not get lost, as such, so when I am quoted a 1 - 2 day delivery time I expect it WHEN I AM PAYING FOR IT.
At the end of the day it is not just a piece of string. Nope, it is my £5.00 that he has taken without bothering to send me WHAT I HAVE PAID FOR.
Added to which, as an ex-plod I remember having to deal with and open case files for 'Theft of Milk Bottle from Doorstep', value of item 25p. I personally do not like people taking the micky with my money or other peoples money, ask yourself how many times this joker has managed to get away with his shoddy treatment of people who want to part with their hard earned money.
There is a psychological disconnect that some people have with ebay, "Its online therefore it is not real money". Online traders suffer from this disconnect also which is why some give a poor service. Facts:
1. Most Police Forces have at least one officer, if not a department, dealing with online crime,
2. 1% of credit card transactions, this would include paypal as paypal is linked to credit cards, result in some kind of bank led investigation. Of that 1% of transactions 99% are directly linked to online transactions. Daily there are several million transactions in the UK alone, scary isn't it. This info is openly available but I have regular updates from my wife who is a Director in a Major credit card company.
3. If a trader does not supply you with the item paid for he, or she, can be charged with theft. Which is easy as the accounts they use make them emminently traceable.
4. The trader in question uses a third party link in to paypal which requires superfluos data to be given online. This link was, shall we say, wobbly. That rang an alarm bell as to identity theft and account cloning so I actually rang ebay on day one to warn them that I may be launching a report and complaint to the Police within the 10 day period. They were happy with this.