I have no dog in this fight but am sorry to hear about the OPs and the other 49 or so having this problem. It does our hobby no good for dirty laundry to have to be aired out in public. This situation should have been resolved long ago, IMHO.
And I also agree that dog-piling (what we call it around here- maybe it's a regional thing? ) helps no one. I would probably have done the same thing had it been my friend until I found out my "friend" would blow me off also.

Tim