Thanks, sorry to hear of your woes, hope they get to the bottom of it. I've also noticed issues with paint chipping more than my other bikes riding the same trails in the same way. I saw a PinkBike review where they noted that the acoustic version they used in their test chipped badly. Although...
I purchased an exe 9.7 in Nov 22. It was good for a week or two and then started creaking from the BB when under stress - sprinting, out of the saddle tech climbs etc. I have had it back to the shop 3 times. Lock ring has been set to 50nm, all pivots / linkages cleaned and lubed, motor bolts...