Hawaii Music Supply

I had a satisfactory purchase with HMS, then an unsatisfactory result to a warranty issue. I did get responses, but they were weeks apart and I had to initiate every single contact even when they said "I'll get back with you within X time period".

I hope you have better luck.

Much with some brands, some strings, etc, some dealers have "the sun shines out their ears" reputations around here that aren't necessarily deserved. A dealer is a dealer and they all are humans and make mistakes sometimes.
 
I've only had one experience with HMS and I came away from it extremely impressed. My wife and I were in Hawaii on holidays and I was looking for a KoAloha longneck pineapple uke. I sent HMS a message via their "contact us" link on their website asking if they had one in stock and got a reply from Andrew within the hour. My message said nothing as to where I actually was so they had no way of knowing whether I was in the area or was just making an inquiry from halfway around the world. A couple of days later I walked into the store and Mike was the only one working. I told him that I had sent an email checking stock and he mentioned that Andrew had told him about the inquiry and that someone might be in. I was impressed that not only did they reply to my message promptly but they also took the time to actually mention it to co-workers. I've dealt with many retail stores over the years that have no clue as to what customer service. Hawaii Music Supply was the exact opposite of that in my humble opinion and is definitely my first option for any more ukulele purchases.
 
Paul December said:
I don't think anyone is criticizing HMS about it, but it does look like they have a problem with the email from the home page.
...They've probably missed-out on several orders because of it. I gave up on my 1st purchase, but did eventually buy my Pono 8 string the second time when I did get through directly with Andrew.
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They've missed two potential orders from me alone during the past 14 months, because of unanswered emails.
 
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You are right Freeda. We are human.
HMS is a joint effort from a group that is extremely dedicated. Every one us cares about you, with a goal to benefit you. With every single uke that sells either joel, chris, mike, or I stand at a bench working on it for 15-30 minutes and often longer. This includes expensive and very inexpensive instruments. Our ability to make that instrument play better comes from an extensive education and specialized experience. That is the best service we offer and is not a retail strategy. No amount of salespeople standing by can give.

Happiness comes from helping others and this is what we have to give. "A dealer is a dealer and they all are humans and make mistakes sometimes." This is true, but we're in a position to offer a better product, more experience, and more honest and educated advice. If that was not the case I would just go back to building with Ko'olau. With Joel, Mike, and Aaron, I feel that we have something special to give the world and a unique ability to bring joy and inspire.

My goal for this year is not to grow in sales but in organization. It doesn't hurt me to lose sales. We earn our wages every day. I just feel bad that we have let customers down. And I apologize for whenever that has happened. We do care and we will continue to try our hardest to benefit our customers. We will continue to improve at that and appreciate the support.
 
Mercury,
I really encourage you to call them. And that's not to do a favor for HMS, but to do a favor for yourself. It's only by talking to them over the phone that you will really get the sense of what kind of business this is, how passionate they are about our favorite instrument and how much they care about each of their customers. The time I've spent recently talking to Aaron and Andrew on the phone only made me feel guilty for taking so much of their time, but it felt more like talking to good friends about ukuleles than a customer transaction.

Mercury said:
They've missed two potential orders from me alone during the past 14 months, because of unanswered emails.
Click to expand...
 
HMS are a wonderful business and generally speaking, deal very well with what is a huge amount of traffic in-store and online. Their professional set-ups are unsurpassed and the quality control in relation to the instruments they sell second to none. Pick up the phone brother and go the direct and immediate route.
 
I figured they had a problem with the Contact Us message form. I sent a message about a month ago and heard nothing. (I have since had my question answered by Andrew here on the forums.) I sent a message with new questions about getting a quote yesterday and haven't heard back yet. That's no biggie, it was only yesterday! But others mention getting responses within minutes, so I thought there was something wrong.

Anyway, Andrew, look out for a direct email from me now! :)
 
syfc said:
Mercury,
I really encourage you to call them. And that's not to do a favor for HMS, but to do a favor for yourself. It's only by talking to them over the phone that you will really get the sense of what kind of business this is, how passionate they are about our favorite instrument and how much they care about each of their customers. The time I've spent recently talking to Aaron and Andrew on the phone only made me feel guilty for taking so much of their time, but it felt more like talking to good friends about ukuleles than a customer transaction.
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I will be in Oahu early April this year and plan a visit to HMS during my stay.
 
I ordered a ukulele from them during NAMM and received it promptly. I called and asked if it would be better to fill out the form on the website or just call it in and was told both work, but the website was just a little quicker as the message would go directly to the people who send the instrument out. I was pleased, but I didn't have any questions or concerns. I do it again based on my experience, but I would also check out Uke Republic and MIM as well.
 
I've used the website email, and usually within a day or two I get a reply. I usually will email Mike or Andrew directly, and like others have said I don't think those two sleep! I've gotten emails returned between 2-4am!

Most good dealers receive a ton of email everyday. I know I get around 100-200 emails a day at my shop. I'm sure HMS is the same if not more. It's very tough to get to all of them. So if you don't get a reply give them a call :) Great guys to deal with.
 
HMS Processing Delay

I placed an order Feb 1 and its been 6 days processing (credit card).
What's up with that? Is this a normal delay?(4 business days)
 
nquarrie said:
I placed an order Feb 1 and its been 6 days processing (credit card).
What's up with that? Is this a normal delay?(4 business days)
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I think it's normal considering the set-up they do before they ship your uke. When I ordered my uke on January 1 it took a little longer than that, but that was because of the post-holiday backlog.

It does sound like something might be wrong with their contact us form(s). It looks like they have two different ones -- one at the contact us link and one that pops up from the bottom. Maybe one is connected to an email box that isn't checked or isn't routed properly. When I sent an email directly it was always answered promptly.
 
I am a top poster, but guess I'll go with the flow

T'Bone said:
...I'm looking to upgrade my uke, and was looking at a few of the Ponos on HMS that I've read so many good things about. In short, I'm looking for one with a nice sweet tone, not too loud or punchy - maybe the mahogany or acacia. I actually really like the sound of Mainland's mahogany uke, but I thought their cedar was way too loud for me....Thanks!
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Greetings,
I am lucky enough to be on-island working and have made the trip to Haleiwa twice; first time MGM spent a good 45 min with me doing the blind-hear-test and I walked out with an Islander MST-4 (all mahogany). Next trip up I upgraded it for a Pono ATC-C (solid cedar top and solid acacia sides and back).

Two TOTALLY different instruments; the Pono is low-G with two wound, and with a sound this 42-years of playing the guitar guy loves. It IS loud and punchy, which is what I like. Make that love. You are on track with a mahogany instrument, so go for it. The Ponos are solid and you won't be disappointed.

Rick
 
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To follow up on my original post, l've been in touch with Andrew, and about 400 PMs later over the last few days I have discovered his (so far) infinite patience in answering my questions! In other words, very responsive - looks like my earlier difficulty may have been a technical issue.

Also had the chance to speak to Aaron over the phone. Loved his willingness to play the different models for me, explain the differences in the woods, and that he seemed more interested in finding a uke that makes me happy than getting me to buy the most expensive model they have. Then again, I guess that's why they have so many repeat customers so I guess it works out in the long run ;)
 
Interesting that others say they've not had a response to a message left via the website. I made a web enquiry about a delivery price, quoted by the site and never received a response. The situation at my end has changed slightly so I've not followed it up. I think it was about the time that MGM had his car accident so assumed it got lost somewhere.
 
I recently bought a Pono AT (acacia tenor) from HMS. About 2 and a half weeks after receiving my ukulele, it developed a seriously annoying rattling sound coming from either inside the neck (truss rod?) or on the under side of the uke's top. I was seriously bummed out because I loved the ukulele; it sounded great, played great, looked great, etc.

I sent Joel of HMS an email describing my problem and the next day he replied, and sent me a FedEx label to ship the uke back with no charge to myself. He said that once they get the uke they will probably just replace it with a different (non-defective) one and send some extra strings along with it, since I used several trying to diagnose the rattling problem.

All in all, I'm so far impressed with HMS's customer service, and have nothing but good things to say about them.
 
Brandon7s said:
I recently bought a Pono AT (acacia tenor) from HMS. About 2 and a half weeks after receiving my ukulele, it developed a seriously annoying rattling sound coming from either inside the neck (truss rod?) or on the under side of the uke's top. I was seriously bummed out because I loved the ukulele; it sounded great, played great, looked great, etc.

I sent Joel of HMS an email describing my problem and the next day he replied, and sent me a FedEx label to ship the uke back with no charge to myself. He said that once they get the uke they will probably just replace it with a different (non-defective) one and send some extra strings along with it, since I used several trying to diagnose the rattling problem.

All in all, I'm so far impressed with HMS's customer service, and have nothing but good things to say about them.
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Two lessons that I have learned in buying ukuleles is demonstrated in Brandon's story: instruments are fickle and can have issues (almost all my UU friends have had issues with instruments) and although buying used can save money, there is nothing more reassuring than buying a new, warrantied instrument from a respected retailer like HMS.
 
Ben_H said:
Interesting that others say they've not had a response to a message left via the website. I made a web enquiry about a delivery price, quoted by the site and never received a response. The situation at my end has changed slightly so I've not followed it up. I think it was about the time that MGM had his car accident so assumed it got lost somewhere.
Click to expand...

They have two different contact us forms on their website. My theory is that one of them is going to a different email address or isn't working in some fashion.
 
I bought a Kala bari a few weeks back from HMS that developed a split back tone bar. Andrew and crew were responsive, sent me a paid return shipping label and refunded me full credit toward a Pono, even though I had drilled a strap button hole in the Kala. I got the Pono the other day and love it, and the service I've received.
 
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