buyer or seller beware?

i bought an LCD tv from a repair man/ reseller for 400$ i didn't get a formal receipt, but he wrote the sale price and item on the back of a business card and told me to contact him in 30 days if anything was wrong. i had a chance to see it work in his workshop briefly and he told me it was in perfect working order. he also pointed out that it had a minor crack on the outside but it was totally cosmetic and didn't affect the TV at all. about a day or two later the power button, which is near the crack, on the side of the TV stuck inside when pressed and won't come out. I called him and asked him to either refund my money, repair the switch, or provide me with an equal product. he refused on all three basically repeating "thats buyer beware". he said it enough that i looked it up, and came across some information, specifically implied warranty of merchantability.

An implied warranty of merchantability is an unwritten and unspoken guarantee to the buyer that goods purchased conform to ordinary standards of care and that they are of the same average grade, quality, and value as similar goods sold under similar circumstances.

basically he told me a product was in working order, and it isn't. Would this be worth pursuing in small claims court?

caveat emptor or caveat caveat venditor?

oh, he also told me that the power switch breaking was probably my fault because it wasn't meant to be used regularly. he told me that was in the manual, which i don't have. i looked up the manual on the manufacturer's website as well as contacting their technical support line. both confirmed that his claim was untrue. would this be fraud?

[olive]

If it broke that quickly he should fix it or refund you. You likely will prevail in small claims!