Dude probably could have recovered a portion if he didn't try to strong-arm the guy infront of other people.
"Please"
"Finders Fee"
"How can we work this out"
I didn't see any of those approaches.
Edit: I did see a lot of
"Theif"
"Calling the Police"
"Felony charges".
When dude tried strong-arming infront of others, other dude naturally felt compelled not to appear 'weak'.
Couldn't agree with you more. No one knows for sure if diplomacy would have worked, but its a sure thing that opening with threats is not the way to affect a positive change in your adversary. Sadly its stereotypical of an IT computer programmer to know a lot about his specified field, but lack significantly in human social interactions.
Ideally I would absolutley like to see a satisfactory ending to this story, with your money returned -- just know that when it isn't returned, its no single person's fault. Conditioning and other factors play their roles in every social interaction and its both parties who share responsility in this case.