Crap restore; your thoughts please?!

You need to escalate a case via the Resolution Centre, wait until it's agreed that you've not come to an amicable agreement, and then let eBay make a decision. It worked for me.

I tried that, a few times. It went on for ages but they kept siding with him. I ended up speaking to a customer support person on live chat but she was useless and kept 'offering' me the option to return for full refund minus postage.
I just kept hitting a brick wall.
I may have just been unlucky.