All this reminds me.
I miss the days when we had full-service mom & pop music stores in any mid-sized town and up.
I remember going to Ace Music in Miami and trying out 3 Selmer Mark VI saxophones in a 'practice room' with a strobe tuner and picking the one that had the best intonation.
I remember local music stores with Gibson, Epiphone, Fender, Gretsch, and other major brands hanging on the wall.
Unfortunately, those days are gone. The last two saxophones and the last two guitars I bought, I didn't get to try out first. Plus, I had to wait for delivery.
Some things are definitely better than they used to be, others are not.
Insights, incites and a minor rant by Notes
PS I hope your bass arrives in perfect shape and in the end you decide it was worth the wait.