I think that Vic's pride got in the way of his ethics (if any!) and he was unable to admit he was wrong. There seems to be too much emphasis on the art of the deal, and the Ferengi (a mercenary character on Star Trek) goal of always coming out with the better end of the trade or sale got the best of him. I know a few people who behave like that more and more as the years go on, who are completely blind to the obvious fact that what they're doing doesn't set well with honest people.

Your story about PayPal is certainly eye-opening. Mine wasn't nearly as large-scale as your transaction was, it's just that PayPal never addressed it. There, too, I'm not sure of what kind of business model would depend on "kiting" funds owed to customers, while they try to make money on already low interest rates by withholding their accounts payable a couple of extra weeks. I've really been soured on PayPal from yours and similar stories from other friends of mine. I'm not sure if that was a conscious but dubious business decision of PayPal, or maybe a bug in what should have been some very straightforward computer programming. In any case, my balance is $0 and I haven't used it in quite some time.

Best,
WMD