I have had two similar experiences with my Amazon Kindle. (This is in the UK, in case it's relevant).
The first time, it broke. I called on a Tuesday at 6pm, they acknowledged the problem, and the day after I had a new one at 10am. I can't remember exactly how I returned the broken one, but I think I did it myself on the following days, to their freepost address.
The second time, I lost it. A couple of days later, they contacted me saying somebody had found it and called them. They shipped it back to me for free.
I had a similar experience. The screen had been cracked in my bag, they ran me through a number of questions to determine whether it was my fault or just simple bad luck, determined bad luck and had a new one with me in 2 days (only day I could be in to swap the broken one). Great customer experience, it's one of the reasons I recommend people to buy Kindles over the competition.
The first time, it broke. I called on a Tuesday at 6pm, they acknowledged the problem, and the day after I had a new one at 10am. I can't remember exactly how I returned the broken one, but I think I did it myself on the following days, to their freepost address.
The second time, I lost it. A couple of days later, they contacted me saying somebody had found it and called them. They shipped it back to me for free.