Originally Posted by B. Carfree

A seat stay braze had cracked. It had happened before to the other seat stay which was repaired by Trek under the bike's lifetime warranty. I brought the bike to Paul's, showed them the crack, and they told me to strip it down to frame, headset and forks so they could send it to Trek (which had been done successfully eight years earlier in a different city when the other side had the same failure). I brought it back to them and checked in every two months to see when it would be done. Each time I checked with them they told me they had lost my contact information and needed it again. It was a continuous run-around with the bike moving between their various shops and no one ever being available who could give me a straight answer.

Eventually, I got tired of dealing with them. I should add that my wife and I purchased matching bikes back in the early '80s; we never did get wedding rings since we prefer cycling to jewelry. The bike was a great ride and had obvious sentimental value. My wife finally started calling the shop and persisted until she got an answer. They told her it was in their way so they cut it up and tossed it in the trash. I'm not sure I believe them since such frames go for $400-$1000 on eBay, but it may be true..