received a DOA faulty item (took 29 days to arrive too)

Can't name them but it was a China/HK large seller xxxxxx_mall 

so as you would expect they portray themselves as being a large MALL shop. They must realise that sending faulty items all the way to Australia will deter buyers from claiming warranty because the return shipping is cost prohibitive for Aussies.

So the only thing they have to worry about is negative feedback.

This is where they get really dishonest and strung me along with promises of replacing the item. They requested that I not leave negative or neutral feedback and close any dispute report 

before they could support / assist me.

The promises and correspondence stopped soon after the 45 days Seller liability period had passed.

They also blocked me from their ebay store site and now ignore all my emails and my ebay messages.

Ebay acknowledges my situation "dishonest seller refusing to honor warranty"  and have told me they will contact the seller about this. Ebay has not told me what the trading sanctions will be if the seller ignores ebay.

The lesson is that we should always leave negative or neutral feedback when it is deserved. That feedback can always be replied, added to or deleted so there isn't any permanent downside to buyers or sellers if the problem is resolved.