It feels like you guys didn't even read what I wrote. Let me put this another way, but keep in mind this is exactly what I said above...

She would be better off not ordering from Bikesdirect. The bike doesn't come assembled and sometimes there are missing parts, the wheels are not true, etc. It's not a good thing for a person with no bicycle experience.

I also said that building your own bike doesn't need to be a solo endeavor. You walk into a bike shop that specializes in fixed gear, you tell them you know nothing about bikes and you want to do a custom build, they break out the catalogs, you look, they make suggestions that go with your aesthetic preferences, they order everything, they assemble it and maybe even show you how some of it comes together if you want to learn, and you ride off on your new bike. At least that's how it works at the FG shops I've been to. Now exactly how is that a bad experience for someone new?