Rob,
The situation with the e-mail problems were true a few weeks ago. A member of this forum who is travelling in China and corresponding with me via e-mail was not able to access his e-mail due to the problems generated by the earthquake. However, my girlfriend who is now visiting in Singapore is able to e-mail me with no problems.
Perhaps there is a communication problem. I've sold items on E-bay to persons in Hong Kong, twice they backed out of deal's after winning the auction. I did manage to sell my Leica MP to someone in Hong Kong via E-bay, again I thought this person had backed out because I got no payment or communication, and just when I was going to relist thie item I got the full payment out of the blue. Since then I don't sell to folks in Honk Kong simply because at leaste 50% of the time, there is an issue with communication.
I sincerely hope this problem is sorted out to your satisfaction. E-bay is tricky, I have one negative feedback on my score and it brought my rating down below 99% and that was from an idiot who didn't even buy an item from me. E-bay refused to do anything about it. Checking feedback carefully is the safest approach to E-baying.
Wilfredo+
Benitez-Rivera Photography