So I got my phone back today. I mailed it to them on April 28th. Did not take all that long. That was a relief.
Unfortunately it still does not work. Will not charge, no lights come on when connected by charger or USB cable. No sign of life at all.
The paperwork that came with it says:

:::::::::Here's what we did to fix it: Software Upgrade and Phone Reset.

It came with a different battery (did not send mine with the phone as instructed), and neither battery gets a response.

This is so lame. I find it hard to believe that anything was done at all.

Sorry to hear that.
I guess you have to call them back and complain.
I really don't like the fact that Nokia is outsourcing support. I've heard so many stories like yours.

Not a solution but a potential workaround: Did you try both charging with USB to PC and to socket? I at least know of one case where only PC charging works...

I don't I understand what you're saying here. Is there a third way of charging I don't know about?

i think he means charging it with a usb lead into a pc and the usb lead into the usb plug, u can plug into a wall socket.

Naturally I called Nokia to complain of the 'repair'. I was told that they would look into the matter and someone would call me back. I called back 24 hours later to see what was up. I was told it would take up to 48 hours to get a call. It's now been close to 3 days....and nothing.

You are dealing with thick skulls at Nokia. I sent my phone in and they replaced the microusb port and I didn't tell them to. They didn't fix the issue I had(volume). So I just made another RMA or had them make another UPS label and I sent it back in. I then followed all instructions and wrote on white piece of paper in big red letters what was wrong with my phone. I wrote in a way that a 7 year old couldn't mess up. Lo' and behold I got a phone that worked. (NO OFFENSE HERE) Nokia outsources their customer care part and put people on the lines that barely speak english and it is like a screaming match to see who will hang up first. It is very frustrating to have to repeat myself 4 times cause they didn't understand. I would rather type on a screen than to speak to hard to understand, didn't know english that well anyway customer support. You have a heavy Urdu accent and your name is Bob? Right.

P.S. No offense to anyone was implied. Just me being ignorant and trying to make light of the situation. If I have offended you then sorry.

UPDATE for anyone in the future investigating Nokia repair and service.
I called Nokia on the 6th, the day I received the phone back in the same state I sent it in (still broken).
I called on the 7th and was told I had to wait at least 48 hours. I did not call on the 8th or 9th (Sat & Sun). I called today, the 10th. After being put on hold for a while as the employee spoke to someone else, I was told again to wait for someone to call because they were still investigating what happened. I said: you can continue to investigate while still fixing my phone--why can those things not be simultaneous? All I got was stammering and blathering things they already told me.

I tried to request a repair online again, but I got different instructions on what to do to send it in, which required that I pack and pay shipping to the repair facility. I don't know why it was different, and I don't feel I should pay for it when they paid the first round and did not fix it.
They are losing me quickly here. The phone was too expensive for this hassle.

I had volume and usb port charging problem. I send the phone and the charger to Nokia USA and they replaced my old phone with a new one. I dont have any problems with this phone so far. It took me one phone call and they walk me trough filing the online warranty form. I'm pretty happy with their responce. I would call and complain if I were you.

Not quite sure what is going on in the USA but it does seem to be that Nokia USA specifically seem to make a complete hash of things. I've had to use the UK version and they seem to at least get things sorted. Sorry you're having to deal with these guys!