the Great White Internet

.....the laundry saga epilogue:

OK so if I am such an internet ordering junky, "why did I not order washer and dryer over internet," my buddy J asks me. Well, I tried. Oh, I found listed deals. Deals that were too good to be true. At one site, I could get a combo laundry for 100 dollars cheaper. But after shipping from Tennessee, or Florida, or Georgia (or somewhere down over there) it was going to cost 150+ in shipping. And would get here at the soonest in two weeks.

Even more extreme tease was from Amazon. Best deal at 200 less than standard competition ...and free shipping if you qualify. WOW what a deal! So did I qualify? No. In fact, I was disqualified. An absurd 250+ dollars shipping in disqualification. And who knows how long shipping would have taken too.

I tried local. No killer deals in price, shipping a somewhat reasonable 50+, but for one of them "ultra-fancy, eco-friendly" tumbler washers that I "had to have", they kept coming up back-ordered delivery for weeks. Oh, I used the internet to find local dealers, to compare prices, but when it comes to big ticket items, there is nothing like seeing it in the flesh (or metal, in this case). That is the big drawback to internet. So until they make an emulator device that has tires you can kick, delicious looking things you can taste, fuzzy warm things you can feel, there will always be a need for bricks and mortar.