Hi RedSkyRoad,
 
I echo all the nice things written about Sweetwater. The suggestion of having a conversation with your rep might be a good idea? The company is a good one to deal with.
 
Ray (aka Oluon)

Sweetwater was the first online music retailer to overcome people's (justified) wariness of buying big-ticket items from a faceless entity over the internet. They pulled off that feat by consistently adhering to customer-first business practices such as a no-questions return policy.
 
You got your refund in 24 hours, on a holiday weekend no less. "Scumbags" is a bit harsh, don't you think?

customer service guy answered + helped you quickly, in my opinion.
here in Europe, just because I was too late....recently could not return a new/unused car part that was clearly not usable/fabrication error...so you shouldn't complain.
 
RedSkyRoad had a bad day/week maybe ? (happens to all of us sometimes -> no prob !)

I also echo Sweetwater as a good guy, even after the sale. I purchased an Artis 7 from them last May and it started making a very loud white noise that could only be stopped by powered off the keyboard. I have three  high priority gigs scheduled and was going to use the keyboard. After an exchange with Sweetwater Tech Support they sent me a shipping label, and will put me first in the que and handle the repair for me directly instead of going thru AMS (the stateside supplier/repair depot) Its covered under their generous two year extended warranty.
So "scumbags"? I dont think so ...

I echo the echo about Sweetwater - I have had the same sales engineer for years now.  She knows my plan for my live needs, and my recording needs - because I have shared what those are.  I might suggest that this is a good way to do business between two businesses..  She reaches out to her suppliers on my behalf to ask the oddest of questions, and has never failed a return answer to a query I have had.   One of the greatest values I get from this relationship is the 'did you think about' type of questions she returns with at times. 
 
I have had to return items and received the shipping return authorization within the hour, which comes from a different department.  They are connected well internally.  I have even emailed Chuck and received an answer same day, actually - within the hour.     In the end - for ME - they do better than a good job...  They have earned my trust.
 
        
 

I have nearly been caught with this living in Australia.  And the US supplier not actually supplying Australia but only in the US.  I must admit though it is not often until you get almost all the way through the payment options and there it is in super fine print they only supply within the US.  They do need to make it clearer sometimes though.
 
It is up to YOU to make sure they can actually supply you.  The payment will often go ahead because that part of it is not connected to where you live.
 
Do your research first.
 
Sometimes it pays to ask though. I recently had to get a part from a drum supplier in the US that was impossible to get here. They did not supply outside the US either but they made an exception for me and wrapped it up and sent it to me which was pretty cool of them.
 
I have only ever found Sweetwater to be pretty helpful as well.  They love Kurzweils there so they cant be all bad.

 
I've had nothing but great interactions with Sweetwater too.

At the same price they usually will get my business.  However, they are usually not a market leader when it comes to price and have lost numerous opportunities for my monies. 
 
I find they are a pain if you actually want to get a deal.  If you are willing to pay full blown retail, they are a great source to do so. 

I had an issue with some software I bought (Toontrack EZd 2) from Sweetwater once..
 
I emailed my "sales engineer" (odd use of the word "engineer", in my book), and he replied within the hour.
 
He told me that one of the guys from Toontrack was coming to the building that day, and he would have a word with him.  He did.  He emailed back to say that he'd spoken to him, and then emailed the next day to see if I had had any luck.
 
He then emailed again to ask if I had got it sorted.
 
Pretty good Customer Service, I thought.  Possibly the best that I have ever come across on t'interweb.

Brian Walton
At the same price they usually will get my business.  However, they are usually not a market leader when it comes to price and have lost numerous opportunities for my monies. 
 
I find they are a pain if you actually want to get a deal.  If you are willing to pay full blown retail, they are a great source to do so. 

You're paying for exemplary customer service, aftersales support, and pretty knowledgeable consulting. I've known people who got talked out of buying something from a Sweetwater sales person because in their judgement, it wouldn't do what the customer wanted. People who know exactly what they want and require no further interaction can avail themselves of the cheapest prices from a variety of places. OTOH returning something can be problematic so you have to be careful.
 
I also don't think "full blown retail" is correct if what you mean is MSRP. You're maybe thinking of MAP (minimum advertised price)?