OS X :: Laptop Screen Not Working After Being Shut Down?

I have sold a Pismo on eBay. I showed pictures from all angles with the date superimposed including the working screen. The buyer received it the day after it was collected from my house and it seems that the packaging was fine when it got there. The buyer took it out of the box, turned it on and was happy to see that the Pismo fired up as you would expect. He said that it still had 98% power left in the battery. (I'm just adding everything I can think of in case it makes a difference)

The then shut the laptop down by moving the mouse pointer across to the little apple at top left of screen and choosing "Shut down" followed by clicking the "Are you sure" screen. He then closed the lid and took the laptop upstairs where there is access to the internet via a wired router and ethernet cable. There is no wireless access in the house.

So when he got upstairs, he opened the lid and pressed the power button. He then waited .... and waited ..... and waited but the screen stayed blank. The only way to tell that the laptop was turned on was that the Capslock light reacted to the key being pressed.

I have asked him to write me an e-mail listing everything he has tried to make it work. I'm not much use with Macs and all I could tell him was to try inserting the restore DVD, shutting down by holding down the power button for a few seconds and then holding down the "C" key at start-up.