The propensity of people to get in over their heads here is perpetual. And I'm not really a fan of alliteration, but the terminology fits.
I'm hardly the most active member of this community, but it seems to me there are three basic types of deadbeats that happen here:
1) Well-meaning and talented individuals that over-extend themselves and suddenly get hit by forced beyond their control (i.e. divorce, illness, financial troubles, etc.) and have to bail out. They usually make good on promises, eventually. Or at least manage to pay people back.
2) Those that come in, gets all excited and jazzed up by all the really cool stuff happening, try to jump in and by egotistical human nature over-promise what they can deliver. Only to realize it far too late and bail out without a word. They're usually too embarrassed to show their faces again... even though they owe people refunds or items. They just choose to disappear.
and
3) No-good asshats who see a short-sighted opportunity to bilk good members of the forum for as much as they can and run away.
I am of the opinion that #'s 1 and 2 comprise the overwhelming majority of deadbeats.
Sadly, because of the nature of what we do here, it ALWAYS falls to the rest of us to observe the age-old proverb: Buyer Beware.
Can justice be gotten? Yes. But it's tough. REALLY tough.
I'm truly saddened to hear of yet another situation like this.
-Gordon
