Ta Da!! Visa in hand.
Picked it up at our local post office. My husband was paranoid about the whole thing and did not even trust the post office to deliver it! Nice looking piece in our passports with our smiling faces copied from our photos onto the visa.
The one tour company in Baku that wrote back and forth with me was Billur Tur and the one and only employee gave me some bad advice about my photo needing to be redone with a somber face. So, rather than trust these folks who want almost as much as the government, I suggest you contact the consulate and make friends with Nahid who is the only one that processes visas in Los Angeles. His English is excellent and he came through with his original promise of sending it out by Friday. When we asked questions, he gave us consistent information and was correct on all counts. He will work with you so that your application is accepted and you do not waste your $160 each. Most of the time, they do answer phones! Now that we have the visas, notice how much more upbeat I am!!
The other caution is that there is a LOT of old, bad info on the internet so you really need to consult either with Nahid and pull up information directly from the consulate website. Azerbaijan does not offer visas at the border or airport anymore. Those were the good old days. Their own e-visas can be copied like we did and sent in but cannot be sent by email yet. Nahid even corrected one mistake I could not get off my e-visa application. Toward the end where it asks who will accompany you, they really mean minor children, not your spouse. Once I put down spouse, it would not allow me to remove it. Nahid did it, however, with his magic. He is not easily rattled and is pleasant to work with. Also, he set up our visa so it begins the day BEFORE we arrive and is good for several weeks afterward. There are tales of people getting there and the immigration team at the airport wants the visa to extend to the day after you leave. Nahid took care of that.
Be sure to fill in your address on your prepaid envelope as Nahid does not like to do that. Press down hard as our address came out so light it was a wonder the post office could read it. He processed our request as a pair so we only needed one return envelope. Shoot, I worried about that too!
I am happy to answer any questions anyone has. Despite our being internet friends at Flyertalk, we almost always are very reliable. Wonderful people here have helped me a lot in the past and I have never been misled.
And, lastly, I have absolutely no doubt that the US puts applicants through the wringer. This one was challenging enough. I am sure that business applicants sail through the AZ process as their companies hire oufits who do the work for you. I do know that it would have been cheaper to hire one than drive to LA but we made a holiday of it AND we were right there to make any corrections had they been needed. We were under the gun for time. We are not at all sorry we made the trip.