As soon as eggbeaters begin to develop more than just 'slight' play it is time for a rebuild kit. I have never had the total failure that you have had but have rebuilt all three sets of EB pedals on my mountain rigs with rebuild kits provided free from CB.

There is definately a nut at the end of the pedal holding things together. If your pedal had significant play, I would have checked this out before riding any further.

As far as CB customer service goes, like other have said, it is the best I have ever come accross in any company for any product at any time. period. definately warranty them. It will be no hassle

Of the three Eggbeater pedals I have, 2 are stainless version and one is chrome. One of the stainless versions is from 2002 and the pedal looks like it was just built better with better material than the newer versions I picked up (04 and 05 I think). Anyway, I haven't experienced the failure that some of you have had, but I am always on the lookout for excessive play developing and try and nip it in the bud.