As one of the folks posting messages on this topic, let me disagree with
what you say (in your message below)about the state of Internet record
sales.

On EveryCD, they have been extremely friendly and responsive to me when
I have spoken with them on the phone.  My first order with EveryCD was
over the phone and the person with whom I spoke was extremely friendly and
helpful.  They have filled 2 large orders for me very, very promptly, and
I was especially struck by the fact that some of the labels were esoteric
and generally hard to find.  They filled a smaller order for me of more
mainstream volumes of Phillips' Mozart edition with equal promptness.

Based on messages posted here, I placed my first order from Total E, and
had an interesting experience.  The day after I placed my order they sent
me an e-mail message telling me what I surely would not otherwise have
known--that they had a computer problem which slowed down the processing
of their orders by 1 day.  They apologized for the inconvenience and gave
me a $5 coupon for my next order.  I was very impressed.

DVD Express, from which I now order almost all of my DVDs, is absolutely
first rate in their speed and quality.  They give you superb e-mail
updating of the status of the order, and they ship things usually on the
same day I place the order.  When I have had to speak with them on the
phone, they have been extremely helpful and friendly.

I used to place DVD orders with Amazon, before I switched to DVD Express,
and even on some "screwups" they were very service oriented.  On two
different DVD orders just before Christmas, a few items were shown as
shipped on my packing slip but were not in fact included in the shipment
which I received.  I remembered wondering whether they would challenge me
when I called them to say that I didn't receive items that were listed as
shipped.  They politely immediately shipped out the missing items with no
questions asked.

I've also ordered from Paranassus Records, and they also have been very
friendly on the phone, and shipped an order to me promptly during one of
the worst snow storms this past winter.

I've had a few disappointing experiences, but all were in the form of other
mail order or internet companies "back ordering" items with significant
delay.  But I always got the disks and they orders were properly filled.
In retrospect, I encountered the normal delay stemming from the fact that
some of these companies have been stocking policies and distribution
channels than others, and I am now extremely happy with EveryCD for CDs
and DVD Express for DVDs and Amazon for books.

In my mind, the companies with whom I now deal are unquestionably
"ready for prime time," in the sense that they reliably and promptly and
accurately fill my orders, save me a hell of lot of money, and deliver the
goodies straight to my door.  They do this for me even if I order stuff at
2am or on national holidays, and I can be shoeless and horribly dressed
when I am ordering things.

Don't get me wrong, I still love going to record stores with great
selections.  During my last trip to Manhattan, I should have been arrested
for all of the fun I had at 2 different Tower Records locations.  But even
if I lived a block away from Lincoln Center and Tower Records in Manhattan,
I would still save a hell of a lot of money by ordering from the Internet,
and I would even be able to find things on the Internet that I couldn't
immediately find at Tower.  There is nothing to replace being able to
eyeball and paw through the shelves at a good record store, but, still,
Internet shopping, with incredible convenience, is a great complement to
places like Tower.

A final note, the messages posted on this topic have been a combination
of sharing positive and negative experiences with various vendors.  The
ultimate question is what is the quality of these vendors to the masses of
customers they serve, and I can only tell you that my experiences have been
very positive, and I know many people that have had similarly positive
experiences.

Drew M. Capuder
Fairmont, West Virginia USA
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