You did the right thing, OP. Being indie is no excuse for doing shit wrong. My parents tried buy me a Harry Belafonte LP off ebay for my birthday last year and it came in several pieces cause the guy didn't have it be shipped as media mail or whatever. My family is nice people but that doesn't mean we wouldn't demand a refund. I haven't in a year or so, but unlike them my two experiences with buying records off ebay have been pretty okay.
I had pretty much the opposite of what you had happen to me, though. I bought a copy of The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage off ebay for $20. Didn't include a catalog number but I figured it was the Chunklet repress. It was the repress, but it wound up being the limited edition clear purple pressing.