Synergy Instruments Ukuleles -Update

[Kyle-SynergyGuitars]

Absolutely, feel free to PM me their contact info and lets get one there for you to try out!

Kyle

 

[Uncle Rod Higuchi]

Yay! Kyle, so glad you guys are up and running.
I was a bit impatient and purchased a KLOS CF Hybrid model. It is very nice, but as a Concert-scale player I still find the Tenor size a bit awkward. I am very interested in your Concert model and would like to be included in the Soprano giveaway if possible.
Thanks,

 

[Jerryc41]

Also, there seems to be an issue with the PM

 

[Kyle-SynergyGuitars]

Hello everyone,

Just want to post some pictures to show everyone what our full Ekoa/Flax ukuleles will look like.







Thanks,
Kyle

 

[jer]

That looks great!

 

[casualmusic]

Hi Kyle

Sounds great and looking forward to playing it outdoors this winter and next summer.

Can you please confirm that it is OK to leave in a hot car on sunny summer days?

Thanks.

 

[Chris-SynergyGuitars]

Hi Kyle

Sounds great and looking forward to playing it outdoors this winter and next summer.

Can you please confirm that it is OK to leave in a hot car on sunny summer days?

Thanks.

While we always advise that the same care should be given to our carbon instruments as would be given to any traditional instrument, we are confident that you’ll experience no issues with leaving the instrument in a hot vehicle.

Some things to note:
- If being left in a vehicle for an extended period of time the instrument should be detuned, in a case, and kept out of direct sunlight
- Allow instrument to cool before you tune it back up
- Sustained temps at or above 155F (68C) are not advised and should be avoided

 

[ashkettle]

Not sure how I managed to miss this until now, but WOW. I've been looking at Baritone Ukes lately (to tune GDAE and play Irish music on) and this checks pretty much all the boxes for me. I tend to have some allergy issues with certain woods, so I'm very happy to have stumbled on this thread.

I think you can expect an order from me to come presently (or like Friday, on payday).

 

[Jerryc41]

Not sure how I managed to miss this until now, but WOW. I've been looking at Baritone Ukes lately (to tune GDAE and play Irish music on) and this checks pretty much all the boxes for me. I tend to have some allergy issues with certain woods, so I'm very happy to have stumbled on this thread.

I think you can expect an order from me to come presently (or like Friday, on payday).

I just did another post about their "new" 15% discount through January 3. Don't wait too long. There is a build time of 6 8 weeks. I should have my concert within a month.

 

[ashkettle]

Just placed the order. Thanks for letting me know about the sale, it made it even better. Now to just wait till it's built. Nothing wrong with waiting for something.

 

[jricc]

Sorry duplicate post

 

[richntacoma]

Does anyone have a phone number for either of the Synergy folks? It has been about 8 days since they stopped responding to emails, and I was supposed to get an instrument (which I paid for) from them before international travel (which they knew about).

 

[Jerryc41]

Does anyone have a phone number for either of the Synergy folks? It has been about 8 days since they stopped responding to emails, and I was supposed to get an instrument (which I paid for) from them before international travel (which they knew about).

Synergy seems to be known for two things: very slow delivery, and a failure to reply. I have heard the same complaint from others.

 

[richntacoma]

Synergy seems to be known for two things: very slow delivery, and a failure to reply. I have heard the same complaint from others.

This is going beyond that, as they have now pretty much ghosted me after initial communication and a very clear timetable that they promised to meet. It is to the point that I have had to cancel my order, and get my bank involved as they just won't respond. I saw those concerns initially, but thought I would give them a shot. I regret it, deeply. I won't let it get in the way of having a great time in Colombia--a Outdoor Soprano will be joining me.

 

[EDW]

That can't be good for business!!

 

[Ed1]

Hi Kyle - Good looking and sounding ukes. What are the following Specs for your concert and soprano? I couldn't find them on your web site.

Nut string spacing (AtoG)
12th fret width and string spacing
Thickness of neck at 3rd fret.

Thanks!

 

[richntacoma]

So, here is the end of this saga. I thought about writing a new thread about it, but I will just keep it here. They finally gave me a refund. The odd things is, they never responded to any of my six or seven emails after their initial "it will go out the end of the week." At first, I semi-reserved judgement, thinking that someone might be sick or worse. But now, somebody was well enough to hit the refund button.

So, if you want to take a chance on a newish company with an interesting product--knock yourself out. I would suggest that the costumer service that I received was neglectful to the point of disrespectful and super unprofessional. They knew I was taking a month long, post-pandemic(well, not post, but..) trip that I was super excited about, and that their uke was to be what I would play in the mountains and beaches of Colombia. You would think a simple "sorry" would be in order, an explanation, or at least letting me know that getting me the uke would not be happening. Zip. Zero. Nada

If you are thinking about buying from them, I would worry how this lack of professionalism would impact their product this early in their developmental life as a company. If Synergy does read this, I highly suggest a coach to help you work on your business skills.

 

[Kenn2018]

So, here is the end of this saga. I thought about writing a new thread about it, but I will just keep it here. They finally gave me a refund. The odd things is, they never responded to any of my six or seven emails after their initial "it will go out the end of the week." At first, I semi-reserved judgement, thinking that someone might be sick or worse. But now, somebody was well enough to hit the refund button.

So, if you want to take a chance on a newish company with an interesting product--knock yourself out. I would suggest that the costumer service that I received was neglectful to the point of disrespectful and super unprofessional. They knew I was taking a month long, post-pandemic(well, not post, but..) trip that I was super excited about, and that their uke was to be what I would play in the mountains and beaches of Colombia. You would think a simple "sorry" would be in order, an explanation, or at least letting me know that getting me the uke would not be happening. Zip. Zero. Nada

If you are thinking about buying from them, I would worry how this lack of professionalism would impact their product this early in their developmental life as a company. If Synergy does read this, I highly suggest a coach to help you work on your business skills.

That will kill a company faster than anything else. People are very understanding if you keep them in the loop and provide up-to-date information.

Keeping folks in the dark about an order is a disaster when word gets out. People thinking about placing an order—won't. Usually they move on.

 

[richntacoma]

Unrealistic expectations are always a problem. Especially when dealing with a start-up that is offering a product at a challenging low price when compared to the rest of the market.

I can recall buying into the first OU ukes which were a start-up. I sent the money off and waited, and they had some problems and eventually my ukulele arrived, and you can go back and read the reviews of the very first OU edition. But, now several years later the company seems to be strong and is producing several lines of nice musical instruments designed to take out on adventures, and I really could not care about what happened when I did a tiny part of helping them get started. I still have my uke and I did take it on several adventures where I did not even need to have a case for it, and it works well in the wind and rain, but not very well in a quiet lounge room. The later models were improvements on that first edition. I am not sure how many workers they have, but I am happy to see some workers who now have an opportunity to develop a lifestyle from an honest enterprise.

When you buy from a start-up that offers ridiculously low prices, you are kicking off the company. If you think that you are going to get a smooth run with no problems and perfect service, you really need to realise that you are actually being charitable and helping an entrepreneur set up a business that will create a lifestyle for some workers. There is no point in having an unrealistic expectation that you are going to get a perfect run. If you want to end up with a happy process and an instrument at the end, you need to be patient and wait and let the people deal with the problems and get started. I suggest you avoid hoping to get your dream instrument from a start-up, you are going to get an instrument from the first commercial run of production, after they solve all the problems. It may or may not be what you call perfect.

When the starting up coincides with massive political, cultural and economic upheavals, as we have seen in the last 12 months in Canada, and now the winter storms, the owners of the start-up are going to have an amazing challenge to keep going and last through the upheavals. While it may seem rude and inattentive to customer needs, a realistic customer needs to see what is going on and should avoid having unrealistic expectations.

I assume this is to me. It is more than realistic to wish for people to respond to your email, to explain and issue, and say when you are not going to be able to come through. Sorry Bill, but that is business 101. And, to explain off these as start up issues is to deny how many great start don't do such things, and why there are micro enterprise incubators and accelerators that teach these skills to developing entrepreneurs.

 

[Dohle]

I suggest that if you are going to buy from the first production run, you acknowledge the risks and see it as an act of charity as well as the opportunity to get a low cost instrument.

How was this a first production run or anything close to that? I know Synergy is a fairly new company but - if my research is correct here - they started delivering ukes last year already. And I definitely agree that customers in general should give smaller companies some slack, particularly during these challenging times, but in this case richntacoma was promised a product within a specific deadline which was known to the company. The simple fact is, if you can't deliver don't make a promise.

That said, the lack of communication is the worst part, in this case and in general. I know small companies rarely have the resources to set up a proper customer support line or what have you but, personally, I would expect a response to my email within, say, three business days or at the very least within a week. Communication is everything, the single most important aspect of a business, and to me it seems Synergy failed miserably in that regard.