[Pierre]

Hi gang,
I'm in the process of returning a frame under warranty and am curious about how the process typically works. I feel like I'm hounding the bike shop so was hoping I could get some info behind the scenes just so that I don't come across as too obsessive about this (which if course I totally am!).

I've had some contact with the distributor (due to some issues he has helped me with along the way). Normally he would deal ONLY with the bike store so I don't want to hound him too much either (although he has been very helpful anytime I've asked).

I've already handed the frame over to the bike store . The bike store has received a Warranty Shipping slip (aka "RA") from the distributor which allows them to ship back to the distributor with costs redirected to the warranty claim. They receive this as of mid-last week.

I've also received an informal notice from the distributor that the manufacturer had approved the warranty replacement (based on a few pics and a video I sent him earlier). I got this notice prior to bringing the bike over to the store, in fact.

I guess my question ultimately is, what typically happens next?

1) Who issues the warranty frame? The bike store or the manufacturer (Note that the the frame is discontinued but the bike store itself seems to still have some in stock).

2) At what point in the process does the store/distributor get approval to hand the frame over to the consumer?

3) How much time should I expect before I get a frame back? I've got a back-up bike I'm riding in the meantime but it's not ideal.

Any feedback you guys can provide would be much appreciated.