Let's be clear: emailing the CEO and pretending that was a smart move is just idiotic. The article reads like they followed the standard resolution process, and got nowhere. Which makes sense, because at $7000 this needs a police report. The CC dispute can help a little, but that police report is what allows a seller to go "okay, you've committed to claiming to tell the truth, with jail time if it turns out you lied. We can now proceed in good faith".
Because remember: the refund process for products that have vanished isn't "you complain, then you get money", it's "you complain, the seller files an insurance claim with their insurance company, they get the (promise of) insurance compensation, THEN they pay you". You get paid with that insurance money, so: no insurance compensation, no refund.
And that's the only thing the police report does: it lets the seller go to their insurance company and go "here's the paperwork you need so you can justify honouring our claim", and then the insurance company will pay the seller, and if the amount is large enough, and its worth their time, the insurance company will do an investigation.
(and note that this is specifically the process when it comes to fraud or theft, where the law has been broken. It has, obviously, nothing to do with the refund process for a defective product)