First Appliances Ordered

After many long months of research and endless trips to stores we had narrowed down what we liked it terms of styling and appearance.  We have been doing a lot of research, reading reviews and watching prices on appliances for a couple months.  I was not quite ready to purchase, however JD tells us he needs the exact dimensions of our appliances before building our cabinets.... so finally we needed to make our order.  Home Depot was having a Red, White and Blue sale over the 4th of July.  We went to store and looked at the sale items and pretty much figured out what we wanted, and after comparisons found the prices were great on the refrigerator, dishwasher, washer and dryer we wanted.  Yes, I said washer and dryer.  In the massiveness of the project, apparently the laundry room is now getting gutted as well....  Matt feels front loaders will more match the newly designed first floor and feels a granite countertop built over the washer and dryer would be a nice touch.  This project just keeps expanding...  The appliances ordered were http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100679670/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202717104, http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100641732/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202717155, http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202070581/h_d2/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&keyword=MHWE200XW&jspStoreDir=hdus&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&navFlow=3&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&ddkey=Search and http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202070579/h_d2/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&keyword=MEDE200XW&jspStoreDir=hdus&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&navFlow=3&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&ddkey=Search.  If anyone has negative experiences with these items, please do not let us know as they have already been paid for! :)  They allowed us to schedule a delivery date out to September 17 so hopefully everything else will be done then and ready so the appliances do not sit around for too long.  The ordering process was a big mess.  We decided to order online and waited until literally 2 hours before the end of the sale on July 7 at midnight.  We did not purposely intend on waiting that late, just ended up that way after a busy 4th and some migraines issues.  So we planned ahead and each bought 2 $500 gift cards from Giant Eagle for gas points.  For those unfamiliar, Giant Eagle offers $.20 off a gallon of gas for every $50 in gift certificates you purchase from them.  You are allowed to purchase up to 30 gallons for each redemption of the value.  So we just take the gas cans and make sure to get our full amount.  By doing this, we will save $240 in gas - every little bit helps with such a big project.  Moving on.... apparently many people also waited until the last minute to purchase items at the Red, White and Blue sale.  The web site was extremely slow and kept erasing our cart and timing out.  Very annoying.  Even more annoying - the instant rebates were not coming off our products.  We noticed this of course as well after we were ready to check out, had entered each gift card with its 20 digit code and 4 digit pin followed by having to type in the correct letters to verify after each card was entered.  So we went back to make sure we had qualifying products, which we did and of course then all of the gift cards that took forever to enter, had disappeared!!!  We did a live chat asking why the rebates were not being removed and were told to call an 800 number.  We called and after 13 minutes finally got through to someone who went to check for us and disconnected us.....  We called back, waited about 20 minutes to finally get through to someone who told us she could not help us and put us on hold.  She came back a bit later and said there was an unusually high call volume - I am pretty sure we were not the only ones having issues - and the wait could be over an hour!!!  By that time, the sale would be over. So we placed our order and immediately emailed customer service regarding our rebate.  A day later I got a lovely response stating to call the 800 number.....  very annoying.  I did however, got through much more quickly this time and was greeted by a friendly man who offered me a $50 refund or $60 Home Depot gift card.  I figure we will become regulars there over the next couple weeks so I took the gift card.  I got the gift card emailed to me in less than 30 minutes too which was nice, however the ordering process was not necessarily positive.  The exact appliances are significantly higher priced now on their sites, as well as others, so at least we got a good deal... I think.  The cooktop and microwave/oven built in combo are still be searched for.  I think I have found them, just need to order them now.... thinking about purchasing from an online site.  The site gets great reviews, mostly, and it is a $700 difference so I think I might take my chances...