I covered our service writer at the shop I worked at for a few years (Giant, Trek, Felt) and:
- All labor costs associated for a warranty repair was covered by our shop, if the bike was bought from the shop. We did occasionally assess a $15 "bike cleaning fee" if you brought your bike to us and it was absolutely filthy. But we disclosed that cost up front and gave everyone the option to hose their bike down in the back of the shop before checking it in (for free).
- All labor costs for a warranty repair for a bike not bought from the shop (regardless of age and price) was billed at $25/hour with a one-hour minimum charge. The normally hour rate was $50/hour for service when applicable.
- The shop received zero compensation from those three manufacturers (listed above) for warranty work performed, even if we sold the bike. I'm not aware of any manufacturer that reimburses shops for labor performed on a warranty repair.
I asked the service writer at the shop (before replying) who has been there for 7 years about your situation and his response:
"If we determined that the problem was a result of negligence in assembly and post-build testing, we would cover all labor associated with the work for a bike we sold. If the part failed after it left the shop, even 24-hours later, we would evaluate the nature of the failure/problem and determine the best course of action that makes sense for both parties. Minor tweaks/fixes that come as a result of a new bike breaking in have the labor covered. One scenario that would void our free labor is if the customer attempted to self-resolve a problem and instead made it worse. It's usually pretty obvious when that happens as we thoroughly document (with photos) post-service areas and take detailed notes regarding torque values or other relevant values and keep it on file with the serial number with our asset tracking system. I can think of several issues that cause a month old bike to make noises that we would gladly cover on a new bike purchase because it's basic fix. That same service would fall under our $25/hour + parts from us because the bike wasn't bought here. I'm still required to account for my staff's time. I can count on one hand where the shop who sold the bike was willing to cover our $25/hour rate for the customer. I've never received a call from a customer who bought a bike from us asking for us to cover labor costs for a warranty repair at another shop."