T Bone,
Man I am sickened to hear of your story. It is a shame you live in the UK. I am an experienced luthier, and I would fix that puppy for free, just to spite Bleep. Do you have any original bill of sale that has the serial numbers on it? I would guess that Bleep scraped off the numbers, but unless he was an expert, he would not have removed the neck and gotten those numbers. You have the photos of your original listing, and the photos of the instrument now, if you can prove it is the same, and that you obtained the instrument legally, with the serial numbers intact, you should be able to win an appeal.
If however, if you bought it online or at a pawn shop, and cannot prove the guitar was not hot when you bought it, you are Bleeped!
You might want to try to track the guitar from Fender. They should know what store it went to, and who registered it after the sale.
It's a long road, but it might be your only chance at proof.
One more thing, if you are going to sell a guitar on Ebay, be sure you know its history, and accept NO returns.
Good luck.
Gregg
