Pioneer Elite VSX-23TXH display failure. Looking for wisdom...

I purchased my receiver NIB from a reputable Ebay seller this April. This afternoon I turned it on and the receiver seems fully functional with the exception of the on unit LCD. It's about 98% blanked with a bit of the top left corner illuminated. I've tried the dimmer button, a soft reset, and I unplugged it for a while and plugged it back in...no luck.

2 Questions...

Has anyone ever heard of this issue with Pioneer receivers?

Has anyone had any luck convincing Pioneer to honor the manufacturers warranty for an online Elite purchase?

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can offer.

-Jay

Thanks for the reply. I hit a dead end with Pioneer's customer service. They refuse to extend me their 2-year warranty even though the manufacture date on the unit is July 2009.

My next pursuit is the Ebay seller, since they stated explicitly in the auction listing that the unit came with a full Pioneer manufacturers warranty. As you may have guessed, they haven't replied to my emails.

I may just have to chalk this one up to an expensive lesson learned.