Your not talking about the guy who sells rash cream are you? There is a guy on Ebay with 100% positive feedback and right along side of reconed forklifts, he's selling rash cream! I saw that and thought how does this guy manage to sell either one of those 2 things?! If you needed a forklift would you buy from a guy selling ointments? And if you had a rash would you buy the cream from a guy selling forklifts?!!
So your point about ebay ratings is spot on accurate.
As for rebuilt, I would agree that what most dealers sell is not rebuilt. I do think that a battery company in Michigan does cut into each cell, I could be wrong but I think they do. I know most dealers don't buy from them though because the cost is too high.
I don't know specifically how Midwest's warranty works, but we routinely warranty trucks and batteries across the country. It's a parts only warranty and the customer pays for everything else. Our warranty is usually 6 months though, not a year. Bottom line, if the battery we sell or the lift we sell is a quality product, and we do our homework and we do all the needed repairs, then the warranty should be a mute point.
I would agree though that saying "rebuilt" is a play on words and is a little less than truthful to say the least.