No i want to shank em this tiiiiiimeeee. you always get to sha-ugh!!*gets stabbed by wedanced* Whyyyyyyyy? *kurplunk* ;x

want me to shank em for you?

kitsch is correct.
ebay is more 'buyer centric' then 'seller centric' these days.

but on a positive note, i sold an refurbished NES last year,
and the buyer claimed the item was not 'as advertised',
and started a claim against me. after a week or so, ebay
ruled in my favor. the ebay support staff said the main reasons
i won the claim was because i had so many photos of the item
(inside + out), i have a high level of positive feedback (99.9%),
and i listed the item as 'refurbished' and categorized as such.

so the moral of the story is post as much info as possible (both
textual and photographic) and accurately categorize the item
as much as possible.

good luck :S

ebay is a strange monster, and unfortunately i've had experience with their 'sellers protection' before, so i'll walk you through some tips:

1) check the payment notification from PayPal when he paid you.  it will say in it something like this: "Seller Protection - Partially Eligible (Item Not Received Only)"  that is what determines your protection for that particular purchase.  your protection differs depending on the particulars of that transaction.  sometimes, you have none at all.  others, there is little the buyer can do if something is legitimately wrong.  if you got delivery confirmation or something, just go to your paypal, add the delivery confirmation number to the transaction, and tell him to fuck off, because its not your problem.  i mean, if it is for item not received only, and not something else.  if paypal can go to the usps website and track the package and see he got it, that's all they need.  the buyer can whine all he wants.

if it doesn't say that in particular, or even if it does, you can see paypal's policy by going to that particular transaction and there should be a link from there.

2) ok, let's say he does elevate it to a claim.  paypal will ask you for a couple things, namely ID, any tracking/delivery numbers, etc...  if you listed the listing "as-is" or ANYTHING similar, thats a great thing.  *if* you said the screen was in perfect working order, there may be an issue unless you had dated pics in the auction itself, showing the screen.  DATED pics, mind you...  *if* you provide good info, especially the delivery confirmation/tracking numbers, paypal will be sympathetic towards you.  remember, they made their money from you being paid through them, they didn't charge this other dude the fee...  they want sellers to be happy, for the most part.

3) first off, however, he would need to open a dispute, then after that he's still got to file a claim which basically means PayPal decides who is right.  and, if they don't judge in your favor, you'll be charged through whatever account you have on file with them.  But, they suggest dialogue with the buyer first, before the claim is raised to their arbitration.  wait, reverse the words dispute and claim.  my vocabulary is backwards, but logic still the same...

if you get negative feedback for this after the dispute or whatever, you can appeal it with ebay, if its obviously a retributive act.  their policy keeps changing with this stuff though, not sure what it is now. 

i think the only way you are going to be in trouble is if you sold it explicitly with the screen working 100%, and/or it never arrived.  his absence in alerting you to the issue immediately indicates he was either aware of the screen problem (and has since found it unacceptable), he didn't open the package until now (which his language indicates otherwise), or he is trying to pull a fast one on you and the problem just started (not your problem).

good luck (:  paypal won't let him keep it and get it free.  don't worry about that.  you'd have to have it returned (you'd prolly get stuck with the shipping bill) and then upon proof of receipt he'd get the refund.  the only way this wouldn't be the case is if it never arrived to him, then they do offer refunds without return of merchandise.

I think a PayPal claim is only for items NOT received.  I filed one once when a scammer sent me a used item that wasn't even the correct model.  PayPal instantly rejected my claim, saying that as long as I received the item, they couldn't help.  I guess I could have just argued that I didn't receive the item but whatevs.  For your situation, he received a Korg Triton and I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry about a PayPal claim.

Did you happen to take a picture of the serial number of the item? Maybe he swapped it for a bad one.

Did he purchase insurance? If not, you're not responsible for the condition of the package. If it was in perfect working order when you sent it, that's what counts. He can't prove this display problem didn't happen in transit, can he?

I sold a Korg Triton sampler to someone on Ebay about a month ago. It was in perfect working order and I heard nothing negative from the guy at all until today where he is now claiming the display is dodgy and apparently it's always been dodgy but he "thought it would rectify itself".

I've already told him to FO (politely, of course) but he's obviously threatening to escalate it to a PayPal dispute.

Any advice? The claim is clearly BS - it did leave me in perfect working order and he didn't report (claimed) problems with it until a month after the auction had ended. I suspect he's either fucked it himself or he's now changed his mind about buying it and wants a refund. I even contacted him twice about leaving me feedback (he still hasn't) and have had no contact from him at all until today.