Thank you all for your advice. I think that my limited free time has kept me from dealing with this issue. However, the shops statement that they would sell the bike for me for a 40% commission angered me so much that I sought your help.
I took your advice and notified Electra of my difficulties. It will be interesting to see if I ever hear from them! Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent to everyone listed on their website:
Approximately 11 months ago I ordered a burgundy 7 speed Townie from Bicycles Unlimited in Peachtree City, GA. My experiences with the Townie and this shop specifically have been horrendous. I was more or less forced to accept a bike I didn't order in a colour I hate. The accessories I ordered arrived one by one over a three month period after the bike arrived. The fender for the bike arrived 6 months after the bike and has still not been mounted. After the first time I rode the bike I told the owner immediately that it didn't glide and was hard to pedal. I was told that it would take some time to get use to it. Period. No help and no assistance. I was promised a phone call today from the shop owner--he did not call. The purpose of the call was to arrange a time to have the fender mounted. My dealings with this dealership have been horrendous. I have now sought advice from the 50+ Forum on
www.bikeforums.net. You can read about my situation by searching under user name janalynl and then Townie Problems and Advice.
I am not a novice rider. As a teenager my brother and I rode from San Francisco to Washington DC in 13 weeks. As a young adult living in Europe my late husband and I rode from Nurnberg to Budapest, around Lake Chiemsee and Bodensee, and thousands of miles in shorter trips. My hope was that the Townie would be easier for me to ride and not have pressure on my hands. (I'm a violinist and now 58 years old.) I was also hoping to have a bike so that I could go on tours when my grandsons visited. Imagine how disappointed I was to hear my grandsons fighting because they were short a bike and no one wanted to be stuck riding the Townie! In 11 months I have riden the bike about 50 miles while I have riden my oldest grandson's old bike over 600 miles. Until the past week, the Townie has been nothing but a dust catcher in the garage making me more enraged every day when I see it.
I think that it is important for you to know about my experience with the Townie and with Bicycles Unlimited. I have been so disappointed that I talked with the shop about selling it for me. They want 40% of the sale price for commission. That statement pushed me over the edge. This is not a way to promote happiness with a quality product!