You are absolutely correct so i'd like to hear the answer as well. I sell online through my site and only take credit cards through google checkout and refuse to over the telephone just for the simple reason that I want to protect myself in the case of fraud on a buyers part and as an added level of security for the buyers so they know that no matter what happens they are 100% covered. I do just want to mention that if something was promised in a day to give it a few days before going and filing a claim, I understand there may be a birthday or for whatever other reason you needed it no later but there are times that you must receive an order by to verify payment, pack and ship for it to arrive next day(at my local post office i need to get it there by 3.5 hours before they close which is 130pm) which is when there first shipment goes out. So basically i have to receive the order before noon. I know this isn't what happened in this case i'm just providing a little note on the sellers end. As far as google allowing sellers to sell through their network and be fraudulent, that just isn't thecase, at least not since i have been using google checkout myself. For the first 30 or 60 days/until you get X number of satisfactory shipments under your belt you don't receive payment until the buyer confirms receiving their order from you. THe buyer still must pay before shipment, but that money is held for 2 weeks or until the shipment is verified, whichever comes later. They do that so the buyer has a chance to dispute the item for problems even after they received the package. And once seller is then verified after the sucessful shipments he has the option of taking an extra step and being a recommended seller which requires positive feedback rating of perfect(or maybe 1 negative is allowable, i'm not positive) and other facts such as your account being verified and identity as well. Again, just trying to clarify some things from a sellers end, i know i perosnally have never had a single problem and my rating is something i take very seriously, it's best to always ask questions if your unsure, anyone that's really running a business and is honest, will have no problem answering ANYTHING you'd like to know about your item, purchase or the process of it arriving(including tracking number) which i personally always buy tracking for any item that's over $20....and i've even got them on cheaper orders when a customer is really nervous just as a little extra comfort.