IBM Needs a Better Mouse Button

I bought a new IBM Thinkpad x31 back in May. The left mouse button (I'm not sure it can really be called a mouse button) is already showing signs of wear and the stupid thing is only three months old! My previous system, an IBM Thinkpad x21 wore out the left button at two years (I initially replaced it with the rubber cap from the useless middle button, that too wore out).

The frustrating thing is you can't even order these things as a separate FRU. You have to send in the unit for repair.