The Patagonia Service Center Emerges!

So last Thursday I rang Patagonia to get an update on my returned Critical Mass Bag. This return has been an ongoing process since I sent it back on December 21. I hadn't heard anything in several days so I was wondering what was up. I spoke to "Chip" at the service center who was very helpful. However, he said that according to the email they received (from the returns department, presumably) they were now processing returns that came back on December 24th. UH OH. My return was tracked and signed by a Patagonia rep. on December 23rd. What happened?

Fast forward to the next day, Friday January 9 and I got a message from Patagonia saying that the return was ready to roll. So all in all, it took two and a half weeks and two phone calls (by me) from the time they received it to the time the return was ready. The two and a half weeks part is understandable, I guess, given the fact that it was the holidays and post-holidays. But not knowing what the status was was a bit worrisome. It's probably not feasible for them to call every person that returns something, but maybe there's a better way, like posting status updates on items that are being returned.  A possibility?