Some of the shops around here will rip the fabrics. Most of them cut. I did have a vendor at the International Quilt shop rip my 1 yard cut.
I rip my fabrics for the backing, but then I use a 5/8" seam to get away from the stretched ripped edge. It does distort the edge a little. I will also frequently rip off a smaller piece (ie 1/4 or 1/2 yard) from a much larger piece when I am going to use it for piecing. I cut the actual pieces, I just separate a workable size piece from larger, 3- 12 yard pieces that I may have. The leftover piece between the cut edge and the rip goes into the scrap pile for .....It does rip along the grain line.