I just also had a very good experience with an online retailer. Hosking Hardwood was wonderful to work with! I purchased over 900 sq feet of Wilsonart laminate floor. When I called to check if they had enough of my flooring in stock Crystal put me on hold to check and when she came back on the line she told me that they had just enough so she put a 24 hour hold on it for me. Took another day for them to check on stair treads, so she renewed the 24 hour hold. I also asked Michael some questions about which trim type to purchase for next to a sliding glass door. He was very knowledgeable and helpful. I ended up purchasing the treads and trim at a locally owned flooring company. They were able to beat everyones price by far on that (online and in town), however they could not price match the actual flooring. I also purchased the Floormuffler underlayment from ebay - I was very nervous -the price was way too good to be true, but I e mailed several times with questions and they answered them right away, I took a risk - but turned out fine. Got the Floormuffler for dirt cheap in 3 days! The company was Shock Flooring. So there are some good retailers out there. I did spend a lot of time on research. But all turned out well.

We bought our cabinets online. No problems with customer service, whatsoever. It might be more helpful if you could post the particular online retailers you are considering and then, you might get specific responses about those specific retailers.

I ordered mine through a local store...the Shaw 3018. It arrived yesterday and we inspected today...it is cracked at the rim (would show with any sort of reveal). So far my local store has been responsive, but there has been no resolution yet and I need a sink soon! The Rohls are now waitlisted due to some problem at the factory...maybe cracked rims??? LOL. It was also packed with the bottom on the side that said "Front" and to open that side. Does that seem odd? It seems like the bottom of the sink should have been on the ground... Anyway, I'm trying to decide if I stay with Rohl or change to a Herbeau or a Franke or a Kohler Fireclay apron front. Most people love the Shaw, but obviously there are issues with it, too, and I can't wait until Jan. to get the replacement... After this, I would definitely stick with local - they are going to come pick it up so I don't have to deal with shipping, and hopefully they will help resolve this mess.

What a beautiful ring! But, some comments... "set with seventy beautiful round brilliant cut sparkling white diamonds weighing 0.40 carat VS natural clarity and F natural color" There is no way that there are 70 diamonds that each weigh 0.40 carat. So, that has to be a TOTAL diamond weight of 0.40 carat. Seventy diamonds weighing a total of less than one-half carat means that they are, essentially, diamond chips. Although the photo makes it appear that the diamonds are each fully cut, there is simply no way that the diamonds in the ring you'd receive would be fully cut diamonds. (And a ring that contains 70 diamonds that are each 0.40 carat in size would be one HUGE ring.) An "F" color diamond is considered colorless, which is good. The very best color rating for a diamond is "D." The clarity of the diamonds are rated as VS - meaning they are Very Slightly flawed. But, the write-up doesn't say if they are VS1 or VS2, so I'm guessing they may be VS2. The clarity ratings go (from best to worst) as follows: Flawless, Internally Flawless, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, and I3. The write-up doesn't say how many sapphires are in the ring. It just says, "set with beautiful princess natural blue sapphire of 1.00 carat." So, again, that's a total carat weight of 1 carat, but you can see 11 stones (and you know there are more than that), so they would each be very small, too. I think the ring would be a stunning wedding band, but I agree with everyone who has advised you to go to a reputable local jeweler to see about having one custom made for you.