BTW, I have an Alvarez classical that I used in college 30 years ago, and I LOVE it.

Leadfoot
BTW, I have an Alvarez classical that I used in college 30 years ago, and I LOVE it.

Now that sounds about right... but I know not from nylon stringed guits and when/if I ever do get one I'll probably wuss out from confusion and just get a Yamaha.
 
They seem to do the trick and are cheap, plentiful and cost effective... although I'm certain there are far better classical brands that specialize/cater to that style. I honestly would have no idea where to begin.
 
Heck... I don't think I've ever even strung up a classical.
 
Welp, now that fact is annoying me.
 
lulz... "El Capitaine Guitarmouth" doesn't know how to properly string a nylon guit.
 
EVERYBODY POINT AND LAUGH!!!
 
Please enjoy this smiley of great shame...
 
:-)

I have never bought a guitar from them, but I have bought lots of other stuff. Their service is some kind of awesome whether you are buying a pack of guitar strings or a whole studio. I live out in the sticks but I swear if they shipped any faster I could finish my order and then walk out and find the box at my front gate.

As far as the salespeople, I think one man's intrusive is another man's friendly. They like to call you to thank you for your order and tell you it is shipping out and about when to expect it. They also like to make sure you got it and that everything is OK.

And I'm sure they will be just as happy to take your money if your own salesperson is off that day.

@Beeps
There are definitely better out there. Mine cost $400 back in '88, so it wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. It's cedar top helps produce a beautiful warm tone, and it plays like a dream. The funny thing is that the cedar smells just as strong as when it was new. I love that smell. Does that make me weird?

Leadfoot
The funny thing is that the cedar smells just as strong as when it was new. I love that smell. Does that make me weird?

Cedar (and of course other fragrant woods) are pretty awesome like that.
 
Semi related but the first electric I ever officially owned (a Saga II 335/Dot clone) came with this awesome hardcase.
 
I do not know exactly what they used as glue but every time I opened that case I got a nice pleasantly sweet blast of something. Like walking into a stand of cedar/peach trees surrounding a patch of slightly overipe berries sprinkled with cocoa.
 
It never went away... well until I idiotically pawned the thing and forgot it in hock.
 
One of my dumber moves in life.

Beepster
...well until I idiotically pawned the thing and forgot it in hock.
 
One of my dumber moves in life.

I can relate. I lost an olympic white/rosewood fretboard Fender strat with the large headstock, and an '85 Marshall JCM800 head. Evil pawn shops....

Leadfoot

I can relate. I lost an olympic white/rosewood fretboard Fender strat with the large headstock, and an '85 Marshall JCM800 head. Evil pawn shops....

The best part was that I only needed a small loan so I took a lesser amount so I wouldn't have to pay as much when I retreived it. As I was rummaging through my crap I found the ticket maybe 6 months past the year long contract (at which point they owned the guit).
 
It wasn't a high end guit but it sounded great and man oh man could I be doing some slickness with it these days. It was just too squealy and cranky for the high gain mayhem I was doing back then (semi hollow bodies do not do well live through MT-2 pedals at full volume... lol).
 
I literally just forgot about it and I've been kicking myself since. It's like the guitar equivalent of leaving your childhood dog tied up somewhere and not returning.
 
Soooooooooo dumb.
 
:-/

It's too bad you're not looking for a MIM Fender Stratocaster HSS, red and black, almost new, hardly played at all.
We could make a deal.
Good luck!

Beepster
Well... I think that's kind of fair if there is nothing wrong with the instrument itself. Otherwise people could just sample a different guit every month and the seller is stuck with the postage (and wear on the product) thus forcing them to add that cost into the price for other customers.
 
It's a delicate balance of wanting to keep pople happy and not getting burned by looky loos or people just ordering crap when they're drunk and regretting it when it arrives. I had to deal with people like that. It was a smallish percentage but the time and money lost dealing with them adds up... quickly.
 
My main advice in that regard is to know the product you are purchasing or if you are unsure to put the cost of shipping (and some places charge a restocking fee) into your budget.

I agree if we are talking about a $400 (cheap) instrument.  But if we are talking about a professional grade instrument, it is unfair for a retailer to expect the player to just accept any one of them as what might be 1/10 of someone's yearly take home  post-tax pay for an average person.  (Say the above $2K instrument kind).  That is a lot of money both for the consumer as well as the store.  
 
If I walk into a Guitar Center with 20 guitars in the premium acoustic room, starting at 2K, chances are I MIGHT find one that meets my standard across feel and tone.  Historically, I wouldn't find even one that I'd pay the asking price for.  So a company that is really only doing on-line retail (and charging basically full retail - Sweetwater is not a low cost leader by any stretch), they should have some give and take to get you to choose one of their premium stock over a physical store.  
 
I agree with your next post that suggests investing some traveling time to go find one instead of on-line for a nice acoustic.  The OP lives in NY, I can't imagine there are not a few stores for one of the most populated places in the US.  
 
As for Alvarez - do they sell the Yairi models?  The Masterworks Models can truly be pro-grade equipment if you find the right one.  They don't just make entry level instruments.  

OP here...."The OP lives in NY, I can't imagine there are not a few stores for one of the most populated places in the US.".....well...a lot of people make the mistake of assuming if you say you live in NY, that it means you've got an apartment in the middle of Manhattan.  ;-)
 
I'm WAAAAAAYY Upstate and out in the middle of nowhere.......NYC is a good 6-6.5 hours from me....Most every city you can think of is a good 3 hours or more from me.  So...when I said my town has ONE music store, I'm not kidding....There's another store I recently drove (that's actually further in the sticks than I am) to that was about a 2 hour trip......they carried a couple of other brands....but because we're in a "low end" area, a lot of these mom and pop stores carry low end instruments.
 
So...the GOOD side of the coin is that the internet has everything I could ever want in a guitar.....
The BAD side of the coin is that I have to cross my fingers and hope they send me a "good one".  (or that the return policy is a good one, if they don't)  ;-)
 
I briefly lived near NYC, many years ago....and you really COULD try a gazillion guitars!  Good times.....