Larry I am going to take a different stand and say you had nothing to apologize for. I read the thread and just wanted reasonable customer service and the product you paid for. There is no excuse for 3 faulty items and anyone else here who had that happen would be upset and complaining as well.
I have noticed in "fan" forums like this that when people have a complaint about the company or product there are always some people who post snotty attacks or insults. The Amazon Kindle forum is far worse even. People there are downright nasty to anyone who doesn't toe the party line.
For every instance of someone claiming Amazon is the greatest I have seen people who had problems. Those people who had problems are often jumped on, called trolls or liars and generally beaten off the forums. That's how fan forums work often sadly.
So...I for one say no apologies needed and I hope things work out for you
