My humble opinion is that you are going to have to sue, and don't put it off another day. They are already giving you the shuffle, but when they get the papers that you are sueing, you will get some action out of them. It has worked for me.

To get some good legal advice on recovering your money, you should sign up for the next 30 days of unlimited legal advice; $16/month. The biggest law firm in the state can give you each step that you need to go through from a specialist in this type of thing, and the $16 includes a certain number of hours of legal research.
Check the site in my sig, and talk to John; cell863-409-2954. He can help.

My heart goes out to you, dude. Those people should be acting responsibly.-Bob