Hmm, it appears my iPod was not misbehaving all that badly: I’m out $30 for shipping and it was returned today with a badly photocopied note explaining that it “meets Apple’s standards for acceptable performance, usability and/or functionality.”
And of course, it comes back wiped clean and reformatted so everything has to be restored: perhaps that will eliminate the annoying behavior of stopping in the middle of a track.
I also got a shipping confirmation that my new earphones are on their way so here’s to an overall improved aural experience.