RX100 shifters woes - any advice?

hello lovely people,

I just got myself a nice Orbit Harrier, which came yesterday (eBay purchase). It has RX100 groupset (3x7), calipers, derailleurs, shifters, the whole thing. It's very beautiful.
Only drawback...it's broken.
Honestly...very disappointing, especially as I messaged the seller and he said he was aware of the left shifter not working, but he did "some work on it and managed to make it shift OK". Sadly, untrue.
The mechanism doesn't engage and while it's possible to shift up, it's not possible to shift down.
He offered a partial refund, but I am not even sure what to ask the refund for. The shifter? It's nigh impossible to find a RX100 triple. And if I change the shifters to another model, I will also have to change derailleurs and even the wheels, because I can't fit 8 speed cassettes (and up) on 7-speed hub.
Of course I can't ask for that. It would far exceed what I paid for the bike which, at £170 was quite good value.
Now, short of finding a RX100 shifter replacement, what other solutions are there?
- change everything "en bloc" and convert the bike to a 3x8 Claris or 3x9 Sora (I might be able to keep the rear derailleur, as I know it works with 8-speed shifters)
- convert to downtube shifters
- make a hotchpotch of parts and have mismatched shifters...? My heart quivers at such idea, but it is a possibility, I guess
- send the bike back (I'd really rather not do that...)

Any ideas?

Thank you!!
Shifters pop up on Ebay frequently, often they stick but just need a damn good flushing out with WD40/GT85 or similar, keep moving the shifter carefully over a few days and it 'should' free up. I've bought several sets of 'broken' rx100 shifters, all have freed up!
 
I would swap to bar end shifters and run them friction and get some of your preferred drop bar brake levers and run the bike in that mode. If you insist on brifters Growtac has just released some friction brifters which may work for you, but they're not cheap. Another option is to convert the bike to flat bars and run it with thumbies or twist shifters.
 
This might be a moot point by now for the OP, but just to add, to my surprise I've just managed to resurrect a pair of RSX shifters that seemed absolutely, completely stuck and past it. The right shifter just didn't move at all - and this is after flushing both out with GT85. Someone did already mention this earlier in the thread but I think it's worth repeating - the key is to re-lube them with grease after they've been flushed out. I used LOTS of white grease from a spray can (obviously you need a spray lube to get it inside the shifter), followed by repeatedly trying to move the shift levers. After repeated goes, both fairly suddenly started clicking again. So, be persistent, I guess!

As usual RJ has a good video about it:

 
I am midway through trying to free up my RX 100 shifters and they are proving more stubborn than any other shifters I have had with the same problem, and I was able to free all of them eventually.
On a side note does anyone know if you can get replacement hoods for them.
 

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