Originally Posted by operator
Are you sure the rim is really bent or is the wheel just out of true?
Did you look at the pictures he posted? The wheel is bent about three inches. That's way past "out of true".
That wheel is likely history. I doubt that a shop would attempt to rebuild that rim into a wheel. Although it's possible that the spokes were undertensioned, I think it's much more likely that they were way over tensioned. In Jobst Brandt's book he describes how to find the maximum tension that a rim can take. Basically, he says to keep tightening the spokes until the rim starts to collapse (= taco), and then back off a little. If a rim is right at the limit of maximum tension and it gets some shock (like a heavy rider hitting a good bump) then what happenned to the OP is exactly what I'd expect to happen - the wheel would collapse.
If possible, I'd contact the Ebay seller and ask about the history of that wheel. You may find that it was reworked by someone who was not careful about exceeding maximum tension for that rim. BTW, it would be interesting to hear what the rim was (manufacturer and model#).