Other than local hobby shops, with a limited supply at best, the only shop I've purchased from is Wind Power Sports. Mainly because of a clearance sale on a New Tech French Kiss. The only glitch we had was after ordering I did not receive a tracking number.
I rarely order things through the Internet so after a day and a half I called him. Corey Jensen answered the phone. He explained he had just returned a fest and was swamped with orders. He asked "are you new to the sport"? I answered yes and no. I flew a dual line Skynasaur back in the late '80's but had gotten out of it. His response was "well do you have a minute"? I said "yes" and it's lucky I have unlimited long distance . We talked for about 20 min. on kites and life. The conversation ended with his statement I'll ship it out this afternoon. The tracking number would come once it was in the UPS sys. With a smile of anticipation I hung up and continued with my workweek. So ordered online on a Monday and talked to him on a Tuesday. Friday rolls around and I had yet to receive a number. I had also ordered some skybond for a kite I purchased from Troy Gunn but did not want to fly until I had the line. I really didn't want to bug Corey by calling again. Especially after being the penny pincher purchaser. (a clearance kite and free shipping) Anyhoo...I had to know...ring...ring...ring...Wind Power Sports, this is Corey. Me: yes, I was just calling to check the status of an order. What I thought was funny is he didn't ask for an order number. He asked what did you order from me? I told him and he looked up the status. "Well" he said "it looks like it's on the truc...nope it says delivered". "Yes, well I better take off work early and get my butt home then". He laughed and asked if I had any questions. I don't remember my first question but his reply was "do you have a minute"? Again thank goodness for unlimited LD. He is a hoot. For 30 min. we talked about line types, sleeving, wind properties, single/dual/quad lines and life in general.
The 2 local hobby stores have little kite knowledge and thus not very helpful. Sold it to me and said have fun. I flew kites years ago so I didn't need much help. But I could see where a first timer could get discouraged without a little training, verbal or otherwise. I've taken a couple of friends out to fly and some pick it up naturally and some need coaching.
I had a very acceptable kite purchasing experience with WPS. Provided you have time to talk:).
BTW the wind was about 10mph yesterday. WOW these are the first full size stunt kites I've owned...what a difference.