Sounds exactly like some online merchants I've had the gross displeasure of dealing with.
Latest was a d!ckwad on ebay that I wanted an out of production model kit off of. After being the highest bidder but not getting the reserve I asked if he wanted to still do business. He swore at me like a 12 year old with a skinned knee. The exchange went pretty much like the OP's with his merchant. I've since taken it upon myself to repeat this tale each time the loser relists that kit. So far it's ended twice now, no winner
The other was another model dealer (what is it with asshats and plastic online?) out in Cali. I wanted to know what international shipping (as specified on his site) would run me. He yelled and screamed at me like I had just requested the price of sodomizing his mother, and in the end said he don't do no international shipping. I told him to fix the shipping page only to have an e-mail that would have made Andrew Dice Clay blush. Filed with BBB and the online merchant association he was affiliated with, never heard back from them. Edit: Just checked his site (email revenge, bah haha hahah) and it seems to be dead. Other listings for his store show no hours or contact info. Good riddence I say!
Really, asshats like these people are why most online merchants are going to utter cr@p now.
-- Jack
The only reason so many people attended his funeral was they wanted to make sure he was dead.
-- Samuel Goldwyn on Louis B. Mayer's funeral