Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As you can see from others' reviews (esp. on other smartstick models), this product apparently was built with a few plastic parts (instead of metal) that break down after just a bit of use. Then it starts making a horrible grinding noise. I called Cuisinart, and their in-warranty replacement requires that I pay *THEIR* shipping of the replacement ($10), and also pay to ship the product back to them (probably another $10). Oddly, other people posting reviews here are not being charged. I called back to ask why some people are having shipping waived, and others aren't. It sounds like they're using a combination of location (e.g. California, which has better customer protection laws) and date of purchase (e.g. if it's less than 6 months old, they're more likely to waive outbound shipping charge.) IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING THIS PRODUCT: Be aware that the glowingly positive reviews appear to be from people who've just bought the product and haven't hit build quality issues yet. January 4th 2010 update: The replacement product lasted only 6 months. Same defect. Throwing it out and buying a competitor's product. Never trusting the Cuisinart brand again.