[pjstiff]

My first Ipod that I bought back in May of 2004 broke the other week. 3 hour battery life. I bought the $59 extended warranty and sent it in and they sent me what looked like a brand new Ipod (3rd Gen, 15gig).

When I got it, I was excited, except when I plugged it in and charged it and the "Select" or "Enter" key in the middle doesn't work. Customer Service was less than stellar and all they offered was that I send it back in again.

Here's my deal, I'm leaving for a trip to Europe Friday night (which was why I busted by butt and got it in) and now I'm left without any iPod in comparison to the first one I had that worked marginally well as opposed to the new one (or refurbished, whatever, it came without a scratch, shiny and new).

Does anyone have any expierence with this, in that, sending it in, getting another unit that doesn't work either? I work in IT and have expierence with vendors and want to include a letter with my previous attempts to get a working iPod explaining the situation and why I'm frusturated and even ask for that this not just be resolved but that they upgrade my unit with a 4th Generation iPod (be it new or refurbished). Any opinoins, any success with this? I've read about people who managed to walk away with newer upgrades for Apples mistakes.

Any ideas on what to say, any help, anything? Please post!