Thank you again for your support and for bringing to our attention messages on the UU site. Here are a few thoughts which you may quote if you like.
Uke story in question:
First of all, here's the link to our product warranty statement that you will find in our homepage:
http://www.meleukulele.com/shopcontent.asp?type=terms This warranty is pretty much industry standard.
I remember this customer but not the specifics of the communication or exchanges.
From the pictures that the UU member posted online, I think it is clearly evident to anybody who knows anything about ukuleles or any handmade solid wood instrument that this is a classic example of what happens to an instrument that has been subjected to an extremely dry environment. If you will note from the pictures, the wood shrinkage and cracks can be seen throughout the instrument -- the 2 places on the back plus the open center seam, koa crack on the side, koa and ebony wood movement on the sides, etc. Therefore, in this case, the warranty is null and void. However, despite that determination, we offered to repair the instrument free of charge.
The koa wood we used to build that instrument not only was harvested years before we got it, but stickered and air-dried for a MINIMUM of three years once it was in our possession. So his allegation that it was not properly seasoned is as baseless as it would be with any of our ukes.
He states that he owns 20 guitars and knows how to care for his instruments. But in this particular case, the instrument clearly had been subjected to extreme dryness in our opinion. What we know after 20 years' experience is that the probability of wood movement due to dryness is a function of the following: 1) Location: here in Hawaii there's almost no incidence of wood movement brought about by lack of humidity. West Coast areas too, are mostly OK except for certain dry areas like Palm Desert, California. The East Coast is the most likely to experience dry conditions. 2) Time of Year: the spring and summer seasons are not likely to be as problematic as fall and winter. 3) Type of wood: koa, the least stable and most susceptible to shrinkage. 4) Care & Feeding: knowing how to take care of your instrument and actually doing so, using humidifiers when necessary, and playing and inspecting your instrument regularly will prevent issues from cropping up. So, in the instances when we hear of our instruments developing cracks or open seams, we can reliably assume that 1) The instrument is in an East Cost or desert-like area, 2) It's winter time or a hot, dry summer. 3) Usually, it's a koa ukulele. 4) The instrument has been exposed to dry conditions (see 1, 2.)
Just yesterday, we shipped another Mele koa soprano to a repeat customer from New York. I spoke to him on the phone and reminded him to be sure to keep the instrument humidified. He said, "Yes, definitely. My place is so dry right now that I am having to put 5 humidifiers in each instument case just to raise the moisture level to 40%".
Now consider this true story; On January 9, 2010, we received an order online for an all koa soprano with a hardshell case. We shipped it to our customer in New Jersey, in mint condition, within a couple days. In less than 3 weeks, on Jan. 26, we received an email from this customer informing us that he noticed the back seam of the uke starting to open up. Was this a case of the wood being "not completely conditioned", as LenieC claimed about his Mele? Probably not, as it was a vintage Kamaka dating back at least to the 1980s. It was, however, the East Coast and in midwinter, which makes it not very surprising. If Kamaka offered a lifetime warranty, would they be liable for replacement or repairs?
Other UU member Story:
First of all, here's the link to our Shipping & Returns policy:
http://www.meleukulele.com/shopconte...?type=shipping Again, this is pretty much industry standard.
This UU member ordered, from our website, a Mele all mahogany soprano 2-hole ukulele. Price was $199, plus $23 for shipping totaling $222 which he paid for through Paypal. He emailed a request that we install geared tuners, normally a $40 upgrade, and we did it for free.
Next, we received an angry and highly offensive e-mail detailing what a terrible instrument we had sent him. Ironically, we are especially proud of our Mele mahogany sopranos -- Bill Tapia played a Mele mahogany soprano and his first reaction was: "sounds better than my Martin!"
We were shocked, but we responded civilly, as follows: " We are refunding your purchase as you requested, less our $23 shipping charge. Sorry that the uke didn't meet your expectations but it is most definitely not used or a "second". Actually, it is custom-made for you, with the geared tuners you requested at no charge which should have been a $40 upgrade. As clearly stated in our return policy on our website, refunds do not include shipping charge.
As a matter of fact, it is not at all uncommon for businesses to state that they will refund in full EXCLUDING shipping cost. Here's just one example: the Ebay seller (beachcamera) I just bought a camera from. (This ebay seller BTW has some 167,000+ feedback). To quote this "Top Rated" Ebay Seller's
Return Policy: "Refunds are applied to the payment method used at the time of purchase 5-10 days after receipt of the returned merchandise. We will only refund the value of the merchandise returned, not the shipping charge."
We promptly refunded the full purchase price of $199 (despite the fact that the instrument had been customized for him which would technically have invalidated any return options). He totally disregarded our return policy and demanded that the $23 shipping cost be paid back to him. He opened a dispute with Paypal for the $23 shipping charge. At that point, rather than make an ugly situation even uglier, I decided that he must need that $23 more than we did and let the claim stand. He prevailed in disregarding our return policy yet he continues to make us out to be villains in the matter.
In closing, we have been in the business of building solid wood instruments since 1992. That's a pretty long time. In fact, when we started, there were only a handful of prominent ukulele companies -- Kamaka, Sunny D, Maui Music. John Kitakis was only offering instrument repair services (no Koolaus and no Ponos), no Koaloha, G-String, Kelii, Kanilea. I remember many years ago when Jim Beloff came to our store and spoke of his dream of someday building Maccaferri type affordable ukuleles. The only uke brand from China was the Hilo brand ukulele -- imagine a world without the Kala, Lanikai, ukes... With almost 20 years in business, I'd like to say that it's been so far a richly rewarding experience. To date, we easily have over 30,000 satisfied customers, many of whom have become good friends. Each and every year, we continue to do great business with much of our sales derived from referrals and repeat business. And for as long as the ukulele keeps gaining in popularity, Mele Ukulele will remain committed to making better and better ukuleles.
I truly hope that people will ignore the badmouthing and check out our products and our customer service for themselves.
We wish everyone peace.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Rock
Mele Ukulele