My thing is this, if it was such a needed item and I had the option of either going to a brick and mortar the Saturday before Christmas and have the widget in my hands that day vs roll the dice and hope that my online request makes thru the busiest mailing season of the year... to me, I bite the bullet and inconvenience myself for an hour or 2 that weekend and just get possession of the item vs making myself dependent on counter party risk and hoping they deliver.
Just had a great experience with Amazon
Ordered a rug, and had it delivered to the office..Delivered on the first day of the window they gave me..but since ordering, I don't need the rug, so followed the return instructions yesterday and UPS picked it up from the office today..
Couldn't have been easier