I greatly appreciate everyone's input, and thank you all for taking the time to do the in-depth research you've done.
Admittedly, I did not read this entire thread last night. I was tired, and had a particularly unsatisfying day!
I'm going to thoroughly read through everything, and decide what to do today. This transaction was over $800, so I need to have a better understanding of what happened.
I did just notice that the email I sent payment to is different than the email we've been communicating through, which is
myrtleherps@yahoo.com. Not a huge issue, as some people use a specific email for payments, but interesting nonetheless.
Thanks again!
Kathy