STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I recently got the box to send back my third ipod to Apple since June. The first one I didn't treat as well as I should have, but I treated the subsequent two with the utmost of care. I have a heavy duty case for the ipod and I've not dropped it. The screen doesn't even have a scratch on it. The one I am sending back is a replacement for one I received just before Thanksgiving.

When I called Apple to send back the ipod it took 67 minutes to complete the transaction, most of which was hold time. One customer-service rep told me he would be back in 3-4 minutes -- and 20 minutes later he returned.

The only saving grace is that the customer service said that if the next replacement dies within six weeks, he would send me an ipod video. The way my luck is going, I think I'll be getting an ipod video by March.

Thank goodness I bought AppleCare, but what am I going to do when it expires in September?

Deborah