I recently purchased a Dakota shed. As a new widow, this is my first "big purchase". My experience is as follows.
1. The Dakota shed web-site is very easy to navigate. I wasn't lost in clutter or jargon that I don't understand. They have plenty of pictures and their descriptions are great.
2. They allow you to customize your shed on-line, so if you change your mind 30 or more times, you don't have to try the patience of a sales person. You can also plan out the shed in your pajamas in the middle of the night.
3. The cost of each aspect of the shed is made explicit when you are building your shed. Want another window? You can see exactly how much that will cost.
4. Customer service is top notch. Each time I called with a question I received a real person on the phone and it was the SAME person. This person was patient and notably not condescending to what I'm sure were novice and perhaps seemingly obvious questions. Other shed distributors seem more geared toward male buyers. I didn't feel even a hint of a condescending attitude during this whole process.
5. You can e-mail your shed design to yourself. This is handy so you can more readily take your time with the process, and won't panic if you accidentally close all your browser tabs.
6. They have great display locations, where you can walk around and check out shed options without any sales pressure. They also have free delivery if you are within a 100 miles of their factory area; 20 miles of a display area. This is a big deal and great savings.
7. These sheds come highly recommended by the shed owners I know here in MN. read more