Where do I stand? Awkward return...

[nomad_wolf]

Hi.

I ordered an Android Tablet on Ebay in December which arrived in early January. Great! A 'New and unused' chistmas gift o myself to start the new year with. I did the whole 'Open it up, check everything is as it should be' routine... No issues. Perfect.

The first time i open the browser to go online on it - to leave the feedback for the purchase, 4 tabs open up to 'PornHub.com'. A bit disgusted so immediately performed a factory reset to be safe and communicated with the seller. The seller claimed no knowledge of this and said that they would be in contact with the supplier and deeply apologised. Not really a new and unused item as advertised. Neutral feedback was left at this stage.

A little over a week later, the screen broke. Not from being dropped or applying excessive pressure or any other form of misuse... In fact, i was merely holding the device whilst putting it into the supplied protective sleeve - wetsuit type material. Thinking that i had broken the device, i asked the seller if it was possible to order the spare part required to repair the device as it is an unbranded tablet. Quick to respond, the seller said that they would enquire if it was possible to ship the part and find out a price for the part. Now at this stage, i will say i am experienced in tablet/PC repairs and know that some devices have the digitizer (the part that reconises touch) and sceen as one part, and some devices have them as 2 seperate parts. To be sure that the correct part was ordered, I carefully removed the fascia of the tablet to find out. This is where i discovered that the digitzer and screen are seperate, and that the digitzer was broken, and not the screen. I also discovered that it broke due to a manufacturing defect as it was in contact with the hull of the device where it shouldnt have been. Now the seller is arguing saying that i broke the device and will not cooperate any further. A returns case has been opened and ebay customer support informed. I have still had no joy with the seller and no response in the last few days. I am now not sure as to where i stand with the case and i am looking to escalate the case.

The bit i am unsure of is who is in the right and who is in the wrong. If the device broke from normal use yet still looks like misuse - what am i supposed to do? Looking back i should not have removed the fascia and just left it, but on the other hand, i would not have discovered that it was in fact a manufacturing defect that caused the problem. It was quite expensive and just want to get my money back so i can get a different device from another seller or even website or shop as this experience hs been entirely unpleasant.

Really have no idea where i stand on this case. Open to suggestions.

Thanks.