Originally Posted by cale

A link to the charges reference would be helpful. The Bicycle Retailer article link offered in the second post of this thread didn't say anything about these charges. Not that they are unreasonable for the referral service Trek will provide.

As for returns, they are a big problem. Nobody wants bikes that are special ordered (extra small or extra large frame sizes, just one example) sitting in their shop. And how will Trek transfer "ownership" to the bike shop? After all, the bike (unreturned) will be sold to the customer with the shop earning an assembly/set-up fee. How does the returned bike become the property of the bike shop if it doesn't purchase the returned bike from Trek? It is almost certainly more complicated than the "...dealer's problem" you suggest.