Brief followup.....

Never heard back from eBay re this issue.  Honoured contract with seller by paying full asking price.

Has anybody else here ever successfully applied a discount coupon code, or is this simply a "bait and switch" tactic used by eBay?  And does eBay normally ignore buyer emails, or did mine just slip through the cracks?  It's also obvious that the eBay mods never read any of these comments.