What should I do with my MuVo Sli

Question

Hi There. Basically im trying to get some advice on what to do with my Creative Muvo Slim (52 MB) DAP. I originally bought it 02/09/05 but had to get it exchanged on 02/4/05 because the backlight would never turn off even with firmware upgrades.
So I got the new one and everything has been working great until about a week ago. One day, I turned on my player and didn't hear anything. Restarted and it worked, but then after about two songs it froze. Had to take out battery to restart then it worked fine for about an hour. Suddenly a song was playing that I wanted to play a little louder, but the player froze again, but was still playing the song until it froze completely at the end.
Finally I took out the battery and restarted again. But I didn't play anything. I hooked up the original earphones and hit play, and it worked fine. But all of a sudden I VERY LIGHTY ran my finger across the player and it froze again. Then after about 20 times of testing, it turns out that the player ALWAYS freezes when im touching it. If there is absolutely no movement, it plays fine. If im careful, I can change songs, volume, settings, etc. But the only way to do so is like a surgeon while placing the player on top of my palm.
Finally after about 2 days, I was listening to it when it finally just turned off. It didn't want to turn on anymore for the rest of the day. I tried the next day and it worked for a while, so I backed up my music (All MP3's) then it shut down after a few minutes.
Since the first thing I thought was maybe a bad battery. I got someone to lend me the one from theirs. But it unfortunately didn't turn on. And when mine turns on, the battery has a full three bars.
Since this is getting kind of long, Im thinking it might be something hardware related, but I have never once dropped or mistreated this DAP in any way. Not a single dent on it. Hell, I never took it out of it's black case Except for the battery change. And whenever im not using it, I put it in a padded drawer all by itself. Locked, of course.
I bought this at circuit city for $39.99 +Tax , and this "Protection Plan" for another $34.98 paying a total of $86.52 w/Tax . I called and they said that it doesn't qualify for a return because the damage was done "Accidentally" and that it was My Fault. I said it was BS, so now im kinda stuck here. So in short ( Heh )

Answer 1

I'd try Circuit City again. If they still give you the "accident" BS, try the Better Business Bureau, your state's Attorney General, arbitration, or small claims court. If you need repairs while your dispute is pending with Circuit City, contact Creative Customer Support; you should still be under at least the parts warranty, and will only have to pay $25 for labor (which Circuit City should be made to reimburse you for).