Ok, ive given this a go and found the following....
Yes, when you have the premium account, your articles are approved straight away, usually within a few hours but on a couple of occassions i waited 3 days!!.
I reached the top of several categories and didnt recieve any views at all, no url clicks nothing. Not only that, but after a week or so these articles arent included in the most viewed categories for some unknown reason, obviously im not going to email them and ask why, i can only assume they are on to whats going on.
I'm not slating you op, but i agree with what was said earlier in the thread, and that is i think you must have just ranked well for your chosen keywords.
I had thought ezines was good for ranking for long tailed keywords, and that was it. I mean, if i was looking for somewhere to find a weight loss product, or to stop smoking, or a credit report, i wouldnt immediately think oh i should go to ezinearticles...
In regards to the refund, 7 days on 13 emails and nothing, not even a reply to any of the emails....out $97.....
Perhaps the op and others will have different results, im just posting mine. I can write good articles in many ways, including sales type articles where i build them up and send them to the page....NOTHING!!
Just my results guys....
John