I think you're correct actually.
Taken from patreon faq:
- New paid members who join a tier will still be charged when they sign up, even if billing is paused. Their first payment grants access to your backlog
I'm thinking that since I've been a member in the past it somehow won't allow me to technically re-subscribe.
The message I got also said that I was unable to "edit my pledge" which is kind of weird for a new member.
So to summarise, he is even a bigger scammer than i thought (I didn't think it was possible but here we are).