Hi lojonesa! How exciting!

First, I wouldn't buy ANYTHING, let alone something as expensive as a claw foot tub, if it had poor reviews. I buy a lot from Amazon, as I have severe rheumatoid arthritis that makes walking around stores challenging. But I always, always read the reviews. Now of course, every item will have some negative reviews. People write critical reviews for the stupidest reasons, lol. Like, "it was much smaller than I expected." Really?!? The dimensions are clearly stated in the description. LOL so look at the overall rating first. If the overall rating is, say, 4.7 of 5 stars, you can be fairly certain the bad reviews are mostly written by people who like to complain, or in some cases, actually received a broken item. So first, look at overall rating.

Then, read the bad reviews. Is there a theme? Such as, does everyone giving a 1 or 2 star rating because item came broken, or doesn't work properly, or breaks in two months? If everyone is complaining about the same issue, then you might want to consider if what they're complaing about would bother you if yours happens to come that way. For example, if you are putting a stained glass window in and some people complained that it has more blue and less green than the description shows, would you be OK with that?

Next, read the positive reviews. What is it that people love about the product? Is that important to you? So, for example, if the reason people are raving about a knife set because they are primary colors instead of steel and black, is that something you'll love? Or is it more important that your knives be dishwasher safe?

Then, take it all under consideration. I rarely buy anything that has an overall rating below four stars. If the ratings are lower than that, a LOT of people have issues with it. Then think about what people like or don't like about a product and decide if those are important to you.

I would not buy the claw foot tub you were talking about because "many consumer complaints" is a huge red flag! You may save now, but end up spending more in the end of it's not a quality product.

I'm ordering a claw foot tub from Home Depot when I do my bathroom reno. I have a very small space and need a "petite" sized one, and Home Depot sells one. My store doesn't display it, so it will be a sight unseen purchase. But it has rave reviews!

Starcraft's suggestions are great!

Anyway, hope this helps! :-)

I bought a 1933 refinished pedestal tub, with faucet, from Ready to Re on Etsy. Great experience, including touch-up paint and paying my refinisher here to fix some chips due to shipping.

Now...it depends upon the smoothness of the tub with regards to how smooth it will be. It will not be like new, no matter how great the refinisher (I had the original 1939 tub in my upstairs bath refinished, too). It will not feel slick and slippery like a new tub.

My tub is now installed--I've had it since summer. Just received the final inspection, so I've not used it. Added curtains and my mom's antique tea cart today.

Very cute bathroom, dyhgarden.

BTW, re internet reviews, please be aware that there is a whole industry devoted to tatting up fake reviews--good for your product, bad for your competitor's. So please take all internet reviews with a large grain of salt. More like a big chunk of rock salt.

We recently bought the "Camden" 61" cast iron clawfoot tub from the Tub Connection for the home we are building. It was delivered without charge to our building site in California and it is beautiful. The cost, IIRC was just under $1,000. There were no reviews that I could find. We took an unusual risk for us and bought it anyway and are happy we did. The staff were very helpful as was the delivery truck driver. It was well crated and is in perfect condition. I see that it is available through Amazon, still no reviews though.

Debbie B. Thank you for your input.. Yes I'm big on researching for all my big purchases anymore. I honestly don't know how I used to buy anything before the Internet haha. I take every review for what they are. As far as buying a cast iron tub on line Im more concerned with it being shipped without damage and promptly with everything as advertised. Being that they are 400-500 lbs I don't want to have to worry about a return. We are building a home which is super exciting but don't need any more stress.;)

Dyhgarden love the tub.. I will look into that on etsy.

Here's the inside of the tub to show the refinishing, but there was a bit of construction dust in it when I took the photo.