I need some advice. I bought a Martin T1K off of a reputable site. It was advertised as “mint”. Received it yesterday and the fret ends are sticking so far passed the fretboard it’s unplayable. Also the top seems to not have the proper radius that a solid top should have. It’s slightly sunken in. This ukulele is supposed to be over a month old. I think it’s completely dried out. Seller doesn’t want to pay return shipping even though policy states they would do so if product not as described. Thoughts?
Bad online purchase experience
- Thread starter bry
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Rllink
Well-known member
It all depends on how one wants to define "mint". Good luck coming out of it with something. I hope it works out for you, I really do. Nothing worse than buying something sight unseen and it turning out to be not at all what you were hoping for.
Demand that they stand by the item they sold. It is not "as described." It isn't "Mint."
If they refuse to pay for the return, send it back at your expense. But let them know you will post a review of the transaction and lack of customer service on these boards, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Take lots of pictures to back up your claims.
There is no guarantee that the fretboard and top will recover completely if you re-hydrate them.
Best of luck.
If they refuse to pay for the return, send it back at your expense. But let them know you will post a review of the transaction and lack of customer service on these boards, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Take lots of pictures to back up your claims.
There is no guarantee that the fretboard and top will recover completely if you re-hydrate them.
Best of luck.
Down Up Dick
Well-known member
Yeah, that’s what’s wrong with this mail order stuff. I don’t like it at all. I’d rather shop in stores for what I want and have stuff in my hands where I can see it and examine it and even smell it if necessary. I sometimes wonder if mail order will last. When shopping centers first started up, they were the cat’s meow, but, now, where I live, a lotta them are doin’ badly.
I try never to buy anything like clothes or shoes or anything that hasta be a certain size by mail order. And buying stuff from individuals may be even worse.
I dunno what the heck I’m gonna do when all the “real” stores close down. The times they are achangin’.
ld:
Peter Frary
Well-known member
The sharp fret ends are likely to be a factory defect, albeit may have worsen if the wood was subject to low humidity and retracted. A deformed top is serious as that is not an easy fix (heat and humidity damage or poor bracing). The frets could be easily filed smooth. It's usually an hour job so not too bad. I've had to do that even with expensive brand new instruments. Yes, I could have returned them but they were otherwise perfect—especially in sound—but the replacement may have great fret work but a dull voice.
I would send it back. No excuse for that. Fret ends and sunken top means it’s lie.y OLD stock and been dried out.
When buying on line, I go with HMS, the Ukulele Site and there are others that are also supposed to be good. HMS does a great set up and would NEVER let something like that out of their shop.
Sorry for your trouble. Try HMS. Try Uke republic, I read they are good. Try MIMs I’ve also read they are good. I have had four tenors sent to me from HMS from Hawaii to Canada and no issues, I highly recommend them.
Good luck.
When buying on line, I go with HMS, the Ukulele Site and there are others that are also supposed to be good. HMS does a great set up and would NEVER let something like that out of their shop.
Sorry for your trouble. Try HMS. Try Uke republic, I read they are good. Try MIMs I’ve also read they are good. I have had four tenors sent to me from HMS from Hawaii to Canada and no issues, I highly recommend them.
Good luck.
Graham Greenbag
Well-known member
I estimate that 95% of my on-line purchases have been good buys from honest sellers, but the other 5% are a pain. However, to be honest, some of my local shops haven’t been honest in what they sold or tried to sell me either.
You mention buying off of a reputable site, that’s always a good start but what is a reputable site? I use eBay quite a bit and they have a disputes procedure, does the site that you used have a disputes procedure and if so then using it is your way forward. I take photos to support my dispute and state what I believe the faults or deviations from the product description are. I also take photos of returned items and the packing that they are returned in, I also post via some form of tracked delivery.
Good luck with this process; ‘mint’ means ‘as new’ or freshly ‘minted’ and any lesser condition is not mint but a misuse of the term. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/in-mint-condition
As a buyer you do have legal protections, look into what they are and then let your seller know what you expect.
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Peter Frary
Well-known member
I think it was a used T1K listed as mint. I used to buy lots of used camera gear and the definition of mint varies greatly. Even "new" seems to subject to interpretation. I recently bought a Romero Creations Parlor guitar from Guitar Salon International—a well known and highly regarded dealer. And yet my new guitar showed a lot of "shop" wear. The back was covered in button scratches! Also the treble strings were so played in they felt like somebody had sanded them! I strongly suspect they cleaned the fingerboard as it was matte, lacking the semi-glossy look my other new Romero Creations instruments have (some gloss was still left along the edges in upper frets). Initially I was going to return it but—after a string change—it sounded so freakin' good I buffed out the back with swirl remover and it's about 90% restored so I'm okay (I've been known to add my own button scratches). But really it should have been disclosed it was a display instrument with some shop wear...
Joyful Uke
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If you paid via credit card, contact your credit card company and explain the situation to them. Sometimes they'll help you get a full refund.
I buy mail order/online all the time, but 99.9% new items, very rarely used. Possibilities of a problem go up with used. I did buy a used Fluke here in the Marketplace for a good price, but there were problems that the seller did not disclose; wrong ill fit saddle, problematic UPT tuners. There's no real guarantees anywhere.
This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)
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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)
• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
70sSanO
Well-known member
I purchase a lot online. Most of the time I get a good item at a good price. The few times I needed to send something back, including a ukulele that was unplayable with a sunken top, I paid return postage.
It is important that you take pictures and send them immediately to document the condition of the ukulele when it arrived. The longer you have it in your possession the easier it is for the seller to claim the damage happened after it arrived. For me getting an okay to send it back and out of the house was worth the postage I had to pay.
John
It is important that you take pictures and send them immediately to document the condition of the ukulele when it arrived. The longer you have it in your possession the easier it is for the seller to claim the damage happened after it arrived. For me getting an okay to send it back and out of the house was worth the postage I had to pay.
John
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I did what the “customer agent specialist” said to do. 1-request refund. 2- send seller pictures. Seller says if it has sharp frets then that’s the way it was when he bought it. I’m just going to send it back. There is a 7 day window. He said he won’t cover shipping. Probably not going to buy off that site ever again. I will stick with HMS. I’ve also bought some Uke’s and guitars through LA Guitar sales and they are awesome.
All of the instruments I’ve had in the past decade were purchased sight unseen. Except for the first Uke that I purchased via Amazon (not cheap but not expensive either) none were a disappointment. When you don’t live in a place that affords you a hands on pre-purchase experience, all purchases are a leap of faith.
RafterGirl
Well-known member
Same here. Most of mine have been new, purchased from the well known sellers (Mim, Uke Republic, HMS). One was purchased via Amazon. Most of those worked out great, but some I didn't jive with & I returned at my expense for a refund. I purcased one uke from a Reverb seller that was listed as mint, and it indeed was mint condition. I have another on it's way from a Reverb seller, that was listed as very good condition. I'm hopeful that it will arrive in that condition.
To the OP.....were there clear pictures of the uke on the site your bought it from? The difference between the pictures on the site & the pictures you have of the way you received the uke should help prove your case. I hope you receive a full refund without too much hassle.
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Someone tell me if I am blowing this out of proportion. I can take criticism. You can see in this picture the fret ends sticking past the fretboard. You can see light inbetween my straight edge and the fretboard. To me this is not mint condition.
Chopped Liver
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YogiTom
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:agree: This.
What may be unplayable to you may not be for someone else. But it isn’t in someone else’s hands, and as you stated earlier, the fret issue is too much for your liking, especially given the expectation from the “mint” listing.
While the return process can be a hassle (sounds like yours is turning into that), you’ll be infinitely happier having a uke you enjoy after you’re on the other side of this process.
Best of luck
First thing I would do is ship the uke back at your expense to get rid of it and most of your money back. Then follow the suggestions posted here to see if you can get the shipping refunded (warn the seller first that you will do that if they do not send a shipping label). Meanwhile, look for another uke that you want to purchase in its place.
Fairness says they should pay shipping, but too much hassle/stress has already occurred to stretch this out further for a relatively small sum.
Fairness says they should pay shipping, but too much hassle/stress has already occurred to stretch this out further for a relatively small sum.
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