Broken Tranny Questions

I have a 2000 Dodge intrepid with about 110,000 miles on it. About a month ago, I was driving, and I slipped it from drive into neutral. I did this twice. I was going about 35 the first time, and about 50 the second time. About a week or two later, the tranny went out on me. The guy at the shop said there were metal shavings everywhere in it, and when I asked him about the "shifting from drive to neutral" situation. He said "it defineatly didn't help things" as if to say that is what caused my tranny to die. After doing some research however, I found that most people don't think this harms your transmission at all, and the only effect is improved gas mileage. I have several friends who say they do it all the time with no side effects. Does anyone have a semi official answer to this? Like is there anything "technically" wrong with doing this?

do you mean to say that when the car is moving you slip it into neutral? I have never heard this before and i would think that this would harm the tranny. the gears are engaged when in motion and you probably shouldn't treat an automatic tranny like a standard
just a thought

This should not harm the tranny going from drive to neutral. The only harm would be if you have your foot on the gas when you go back into drive.