Am a bit late to this convo.
Absolute horror story, Karl!
Glad you got you money back, mate.
I've been seething reading through some of these posts.
As for myself, I've only ever paid by BACS when I've been able to get 3rd party proof that the seller exists.
Other that I've gone to collect, with cash in hand - either to meet in a mutually agreed location or to an address verifiable on Google Maps.
I don't need ANY bass badly enough to trust purchasing via EBay, Gumtree or PayPal from someone I've never heard of.