Thanks for the anecdotal evidence. Were you covered by Apple Care or just got lucky?
I've looked into this a bit more and it looks like my comment is entirely unhelpful: mine is a mid-2010 MBP, so while our issues look similar, they probably are not. Sorry about that, I should have checked before.
This explicitly states that your warrantee for this very specific issue is extended to 3 years after date of purchase. I doubt you purchased a 2010 MBP in 2012...
Still, if this looks like what you're experiencing, get a genius bar appointment. It's free, and they have an automated diagnostic system that detects this specific issue (and others). If it's the same one, you might be able to talk yourself into a free replacement.