What should I do about my iPod? Apple declined the repairing service. Any Advice?

During the early weeks of June, I spent almost all of my money on the 30G 5th Generation iPod ($250). It worked great up last week when it suddenly became very slow. I looked on the Online Help section on apple.com and I ';Restored'; my iPod (Basically Reformatting It) and put some music back on it. On the main menu, I selected Music and it took about 8seconds to load. Upon the selection of a song, it would play for about two seconds and skip to the next song. I requested a service repair through Apple and they sent me a pre-packaged box and I sent it back with my iPod in it. Then I recieved notification today that ';Accidental damage or abuse found - service declined';. I mean sure...It had a small scratch on the screen and a small dent on the back of it... It's not like I have ever thrown it around and I've always been careful. And the one dent that it does have occured over the summer on a Youth Mission Project. I'm really bummed out about this. Any suggestions or advice?ThanksWhat should I do about my iPod? Apple declined the repairing service. Any Advice?
Wow, thats really a shame. If I was you, I'd try again to see if they could fix or replace it for you. You could try calling or emaling them aswell instead of just sending it in. Good luck.