Uke Like the Pros Online Shop

[don_b]

I mean no ill will toward anyone with this comment but, in the future, it would be nice if all threads inquiring about a particular shop's uke stock and uke service didn't devolve into negative criticism of the shop owner's musicianship and personality. Especially when it seems like this is just an honest person with very few real complaints regarding his service that didn't go unresolved when brought to his attention. Again, no disrespect. I just hate to see a well-meaning thread like this become "well, he seems to have good ukes and good service and good reviews, but a bunch of people on that big uke forum say he's annoying and isn't great at uke so I'll look somewhere else."

 

[Natikadawn]

I haven't had a good experience lately with Uke Like the Pros. I bought a Pono MGTP and paid for a setup. When I received it, the setup was so low that the C string buzzed terribly. I tried different strings and nothing worked. Finally had to use super glue and now the buzzing has stopped. Not ideal, but I didn't know what else to do. So that was money for a setup down the drain. And now I am dealing with a difficult situation where I shipped a Pono baritone to ULTP as a credit towards another purchase. 3 weeks later after asking several times for how much they would give me for the baritone, I finally get an answer and Terry says the truss rod in the Pono doesn’t work and that the instrument buzzes because the actuon is too low. He sold me that Pono with a truss rod that doesn't work and low action! Good grief! I told him to just ship it back to me and want to be done with the whole situation. I guess he thought he could offer me next to nothing for the instrument by telling me things are wrong with it. I guess he forgot he sold it to me that way. The baritone didn't buzz for me but the pineapple tenor sure did. I won't be purchasing or dealing with ULTP in the future.

 

[Brad Bordessa]

Thought this thread had died, but now I'll be asking Aaron to close it officially. I was just looking for some insight, not trying to open a can of worms. Sorry to hear about your trouble, Natika.

 

[Natikadawn]

Thought this thread had died, but now I'll be asking Aaron to close it officially. I was just looking for some insight, not trying to open a can of worms. Sorry to hear about your trouble, Natika.

Sorry about my post. I'm just struggling with this shop. This was a thread I found where other people also experienced troubles with them. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I'm sorry about that.

 

[Brad Bordessa]

Sorry about my post. I'm just struggling with this shop. This was a thread I found where other people also experienced troubles with them. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I'm sorry about that.

Not a problem! Don't worry about it. Honest feedback and reviews are important.

However, I started this thread asking a very different question than what it morphed into. Nobody's fault, just time to take the discussion to a new thread, if needed, IMO.

 

[rainbow21]

Sorry about my post. I'm just struggling with this shop. This was a thread I found where other people also experienced troubles with them. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I'm sorry about that.

I actually find this post a valuable addition to the forum. You share your personal experience which will help others decide on their choice of sellers. There are a lot of positive posts regarding different sellers due to their positive interactions and satisfaction. It is equally, if not more important, to see posts about sellers where things did not work out well.

So I thank you for this and believe you have nothing to apologize for.

And Brad, I see no reason why this post should be closed, even though your original intent for the post has gone a little sideways.

 

[Natikadawn]

I actually find this post a valuable addition to the forum. You share your personal experience which will help others decide on their choice of sellers. There are a lot of positive posts regarding different sellers due to their positive interactions and satisfaction. It is equally, if not more important, to see posts about sellers where things did not work out well.

So I thank you for this and believe you have nothing to apologize for.

And Brad, I see no reason why this post should be closed, even though your original intent for the post has gone a little sideways.

Hi Rainbow 21,
I hope my info is valuable, but I get where Brad is coming from. He doesn't have a bad experience with ULTP, but his thread brought out those of us who have, even though that was not his intention. And now he probably just keeps getting notifications from all of us upset customers on his thread. Sorry Brad!

 

[richntacoma]

Thought this thread had died, but now I'll be asking Aaron to close it officially. I was just looking for some insight, not trying to open a can of worms. Sorry to hear about your trouble, Natika.

This is frankly wrong Brad, IMHO. There is no "can of worms" but people's lived experience. Shutting down this thread would suggest that only positive experiences should be reported, and that is really problematic.

 

[richntacoma]

Hi Rainbow 21,
I hope my info is valuable, but I get where Brad is coming from. He doesn't have a bad experience with ULTP, but his thread brought out those of us who have, even though that was not his intention. And now he probably just keeps getting notifications from all of us upset customers on his thread. Sorry Brad!

You did NOTHIGN wrong. You responded to a thread with the truth--that is what we do in democracies, IMHO.

 

[Cadia]

This is frankly wrong Brad, IMHO. There is no "can of worms" but people's lived experience. Shutting down this thread would suggest that only positive experiences should be reported, and that is really problematic.

I agree. Brad asked about their service, and there's been several negative issues that members have had which is good to know if you're considering buying from ULTP. Nakitadawn is just a more recent addition to these service issues.

 

[Brad Bordessa]

This is frankly wrong Brad, IMHO. There is no "can of worms" but people's lived experience. Shutting down this thread would suggest that only positive experiences should be reported, and that is really problematic.

I'm in no way interested in censoring UU, Rich. It's been fine the way it is for the 15 years I've been here.

Closing this thread (different than deleting, BTW) and starting a new one would be a much more visible and proactive way to address these issues with ULTP, in my opinion.

I just wanted to know if ULTP checked out (it does). That's it. Guess this thread has become something more than that and I misread the room. Carry on.

 

[Tin Ear]

An open light - with good honest reports is much better than keeping things closed in a closet or vacuum. Information brought into the open may help others make informed decisions in the future as to where to make their purchases with comfort and confidence.

Sorry to hear about your experience Natikadawn. On top of the issues, the follow up or response to your set of circumstances is very telling of quality of service and/or lack thereof for customer relations.

Reports such as yours may help others to hopefully make informed decisions. You did right posting your experience. No apologies whatsoever warranted on your part.

Title of the thread relates to ULTP on line shop - first post inquires about service - You were spot on posting here Natikadawn .

 

[mikelz777]

I've never purchased a uke from Uke Like The Pros so this would just be an OPINION from a prospective buyer whose purchases would tend to be below $400. I have no issues with Terry, I find him personable, his playing is fine and I think his instructional videos are good. He does project a bit of that "sales personality". The website itself is slick almost to the point of being too slick. It gives me the impression that they are really pushing to squeeze the maximum profit that is possible from every single sale. I find the prices tend to be higher than can be found elsewhere. I counted over a hundred options to upsell/upgrade/add-on in their listings and it's a bit overwhelming. You have to scroll way down past all that just to get to the uke's description. Setups are extra $$ so it's disappointing that they wouldn't be free if spending a certain dollar amount. They have a lot of high end ukes available so perhaps they are more competitive there, I don't know. I wouldn't rule them out for any potential future purchases but they would be among the last that I'd still consider.

I'm sure that you could find people who have had a negative experience with all of the most popular uke sites. Hawaii Music Supply is among the most popular and well respected but I have had a negative experience with them which shaded my opinion so it's unlikely I'd ever buy from them again. I've had nothing but positive experiences with Uke Republic. I've always had positive experiences with Mims. A couple of times I've had to have the action lowered even after asking for low action but I'll take the hit on that. I need lower action than many people and at the time I didn't know the measurements I needed/preferred and didn't provide her with specifics so that's on me. I've only ever communicated with Elderly Instruments but those have been positive experiences. I don't think any of them are "#1". How would you even begin rank them on an objective basis?

With any buying experience it's always going to be "let the buyer beware". Weigh the positives and negatives, there's always going to be some and then make an informed decision.

 

[necessaryrooster]

I've never purchased a uke from Uke Like The Pros so this would just be an OPINION from a prospective buyer whose purchases would tend to be below $400. I have no issues with Terry, I find him personable, his playing is fine and I think his instructional videos are good. He does project a bit of that "sales personality". The website itself is slick almost to the point of being too slick. It gives me the impression that they are really pushing to squeeze the maximum profit that is possible from every single sale. I find the prices tend to be higher than can be found elsewhere. I counted over a hundred options to upsell/upgrade/add-on in their listings and it's a bit overwhelming. You have to scroll way down past all that just to get to the uke's description. Setups are extra $$ so it's disappointing that they wouldn't be free if spending a certain dollar amount. They have a lot of high end ukes available so perhaps they are more competitive there, I don't know. I wouldn't rule them out for any potential future purchases but they would be among the last that I'd still consider.

I'm sure that you could find people who have had a negative experience with all of the most popular uke sites. Hawaii Music Supply is among the most popular and well respected but I have had a negative experience with them which shaded my opinion so it's unlikely I'd ever buy from them again. I've had nothing but positive experiences with Uke Republic. I've always had positive experiences with Mims. A couple of times I've had to have the action lowered even after asking for low action but I'll take the hit on that. I need lower action than many people and at the time I didn't know the measurements I needed/preferred and didn't provide her with specifics so that's on me. I've only ever communicated with Elderly Instruments but those have been positive experiences. I don't think any of them are "#1". How would you even begin rank them on an objective basis?

With any buying experience it's always going to be "let the buyer beware". Weigh the positives and negatives, there's always going to be some and then make an informed decision.

Curious what your negative experience with HMS was.

 

[anaka]

Locking thread, please DM individual members for further discussion/information.