Advice, please - dirt inside lens

Hi, I'm looking for some advice from the forum community regarding a problem I recently noticed. I've discovered some small piece of dirt inside my 70-200 f/4 L IS. It is located towards the rear of the lens as can be seen in the picture. (I tried manual focusing on the speck and the sharp part of the outside seems to be near the focusing ring.) The lens isn't too old and I've been in contact with the retailer that basically say "OK, send it in and we'll have it fixed for you within a few weeks without charge". They also advised me to think twice before I do so - they can't promise any faster return than within 3-4 weeks (but it might as well be less than 2 weeks). And since the speck doesn't affect image quality (as far as I have been able to check), I'm getting dubious about the whole thing. Could dismantling of the lens in a service workshop introduce other dirt that show up some day? Will it be quite as sharp when I get it in return? Can I live without it for 3 weeks or more? Basically my concern is that I have a functionally perfect lens with an annoying piece of dirt inside it. And according to the "don't fix things that work" rule I'm worried about other problems that could arise if I send it in. The main problem I can foresee is if I would decide to sell it one day (but why?), then it would be a problem if it looked like this. What would you do?


(I'm pretty sure it wasn't located there from the start. My guess is that this is something loose within the lens that was hiding at the inner barrel when I unpacked the lens but is currently located at around "one o'clock" according to the image. I've tried some gentle shaking and knocking but it doesen't move too easily.)


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If it doesn

Opening the lens to clean that spec out may actually run the risk of introducing more contamination. I would not worry about it.


Did you see this when it was posted before?


Scratches?

Hehe, those scratches do affect IQ but not nearly as much as one would guess from the picture of the lens itself.


I used to be really picky with any dust on the front of the lens/filter which kept me constantly blowing and wiping. After I learned/realized that such dust have no real impact on the images I have become more forgiving.


In this case I can

If they clean it for free, send it in.


Here is a thought, what other particles are floating around in there that will show up later?


Is there dust or dirt on any of the moving parts that would cause wear?


Who knows, but...still its free to send it in now. Or you could wait and hope nothing else pops up after the warranty period expires.