this is the LBS story from hell. it's insane.

At least he called this time. :)

Except that then you'd have a Wal-mart bike... the older Schwinns are a VERY different breed than the current ones under that name.

If they charge storage, the OP should pitch a full on hissy fit AND take it to the local newspaper! However, at least they are trying to work on it. I took one of my early 80s bikes into two different LBSs and they tried to sell me a new bike because mine was "obsolete." (It still rolls...)

Well, do we have a happy ending...or what?

Haha, I thought by now you all would be tired of my *****ing about this.

To conclude the long, long bike repair story: I walk into the shop on day after the fourth and they have my bike on the rack doing final tune-ups and adjustments. I speak with him while he's going over my bike and he appologizes many times for the long wait but again boils it down to a lack of preparedness on his part for handling the high volume of older bikes he got all at once. I hint at how I'll have to get back in shape after having not rode a bike in over a month...

He insists I take the bike out for a ride before I take it home to make sure it's all in order. I do, and it seriously is riding like a dream. I have to give him that.

He rings me out and gives me some really steep discounts for all the work I had him do. I was expecting it to come to over $150+ for the full overhaul, parts, tubes, labor etc, but he set me out at about $130 flat.

tell them that.....if it doesn't make a difference to them, go somewhere else.

Bud311, I can relate to your dilemma, my last outing with the LBS techs was having them telling me that it's slow, that they can work on my bike right away, and would have it back to me in a few hours. I called the LBS a few hours later to see if my bike was ready, only to discover that they had misplaced my work order, and that my bike was scheduled to be worked on in a week's time. I took the bike home that day, rode my backup bike until the bike tools and parts I had ordered online arrived. If you happen to find a good LBS, stay with them ,otherwise it's time to start learning how to repair your own bike.

I'm glad that you are at least happy with the way your bike rides!!

Now if after all that the bike wasn't perfect, THAT would be the shop from hell...