TUS/HMS Communication Issue Resolved by Andrew

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Sometimes threads will take on a life of their own long after the op has left the room.
 
Creating 4 pages of content and 78 posts on UU. You may as well capitalise on the attention.

Can you post your next video on Shameless Self Promotions or join the current SOTU so we can see more of your work.
Great idea! You obviously like performing, recording, and sharing your work. So do lots of others on UU. So … start working on some videos and share them here. You won’t find a more supportive, appreciative audience anywhere.
 
I apologize Aaron. I try my best to run a business that is responsive and I apologize for falling short there. Joel is more than full time nothing but answering emails and calls and it’s half the time from Veronica and Corey. Tobias gets paid to run our Instagram and it is remote but it’s quite a bit of time and he does answer many messages. I’m not sure what happened. I’m sorry. I outsource it because I don’t have time for it and at least Tobias has experience at our store and ukulele, and he sometimes reaches out to me for the answers to questions. I used to do contests years ago and stopped after someone got mad. It’s not as fun when it creates problems. We’re giving away a few thousand dollars worth of goods or credit when we do this in hopes of generating more love for uke and good will from the community. Of course I wouldn’t want you ignored or anyone. At this point I take pictures, shoot/ edit videos, put in orders, web work, bills, lots more.. I didn’t even have time to read this whole thread, sorry. There’s emails and phones getting answered all through the week and it’s not something I can hire just anyone for. I’m glad I have people like Joel and Corey with lots of experience to help people correctly. I apologize for when we drop the ball. I love the whole uke community. Thanks for perpetuating the instrument. I’ll keep trying to improve The Ukulele Site experience. (I’ll put in the credit we gave the top 10 for you Aaron at your account, keep pickn’ bro, you sound great, and I'm sorry we let you down) - Andrew
 
I apologize Aaron. I try my best to run a business that is responsive and I apologize for falling short there. Joel is more than full time nothing but answering emails and calls and it’s half the time from Veronica and Corey. Tobias gets paid to run our Instagram and it is remote but it’s quite a bit of time and he does answer many messages. I’m not sure what happened. I’m sorry. I outsource it because I don’t have time for it and at least Tobias has experience at our store and ukulele, and he sometimes reaches out to me for the answers to questions. I used to do contests years ago and stopped after someone got mad. It’s not as fun when it creates problems. We’re giving away a few thousand dollars worth of goods or credit when we do this in hopes of generating more love for uke and good will from the community. Of course I wouldn’t want you ignored or anyone. At this point I take pictures, shoot/ edit videos, put in orders, web work, bills, lots more.. I didn’t even have time to read this whole thread, sorry. There’s emails and phones getting answered all through the week and it’s not something I can hire just anyone for. I’m glad I have people like Joel and Corey with lots of experience to help people correctly. I apologize for when we drop the ball. I love the whole uke community. Thanks for perpetuating the instrument. I’ll keep trying to improve The Ukulele Site experience. (I’ll put in the credit we gave the top 10 for you Aaron at your account, keep pickn’ bro, you sound great, and I'm sorry we let you down) - Andrew
Andrew, thanks so much for reaching out. The credit is extremely generous of you as I have no idea if I would have or should have made top 10, the acknowledgment of what happened was all I needed. I was just really into participating in the whole thing so having that happen and then my message asking about it being left on read was upsetting.

I hope this doesn’t discourage you from running contests in the future, the fact that I was disappointed is proof of what a cool idea it is. Mistakes happen! It might be worth checking in with the guys to figure out how the messages got read but not responded to as I think that’s what made an understandable fumble more confusing/less understandable - perhaps it would be best to not open messages when there isn’t time to type a quick reply if appropriate.

Anyway the fact that you personally responded makes you good in my book, I’ve always loved you guys and am happy to continue to. I sent someone your way even when I was upset bc I knew you were the best place to get what he was looking for. I’m going to go back and edit my initial post to reflect how you owned the situation.

Aloha,
Aaron
 
As always, if you play the victim long enough, humans will apologize for anything. Next time they consider a contest, they'll think "yeah but remember that one time we hurt that guy's feelings? Maybe it's better we didn't?" and then some poor kid who's been playing his heart out on a $50 Kala for 3 years will miss out on the opportunity to win a better instrument. smdh. It wasn't a fumble. He's saying that to appease you. You weren't owed anything.
 
As always, if you play the victim long enough, humans will apologize for anything. Next time they consider a contest, they'll think "yeah but remember that one time we hurt that guy's feelings? Maybe it's better we didn't?" and then some poor kid who's been playing his heart out on a $50 Kala for 3 years will miss out on the opportunity to win a better instrument. smdh. It wasn't a fumble. He's saying that to appease you. You weren't owed anything.

What a load of crock.
aaron never played victim. He stated facts about what happened.
It looks like the message got through to the business and they have responded gracefully.

I certainly agree that there are situations where people play victim to get what they want through extortion and pressure. But this is clearly not one of them. Read the room.
 
As always, if you play the victim long enough, humans will apologize for anything. Next time they consider a contest, they'll think "yeah but remember that one time we hurt that guy's feelings? Maybe it's better we didn't?" and then some poor kid who's been playing his heart out on a $50 Kala for 3 years will miss out on the opportunity to win a better instrument. smdh. It wasn't a fumble. He's saying that to appease you. You weren't owed anything.
They seem like rational folks, I think it’s much more likely that they’ll look at how to improve their communication systems.

I hope good things come your way, nobody is that bitter without a reason and we all deserve to be happy. If you’re ever near DC, I’d love to have a jam sesh and buy you a beer.
 
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They seem like rational folks, I think it’s much more likely that they’ll look at how to improve their communication systems.

I hope good things come your way, nobody is that better without a reason and we all deserve to be happy. If you’re ever near DC, I’d love to have a jam sesh and buy you a beer.
Late this afternoon I emailed TUS and brought this thread to their attention .
Their response was almost immediate .
My email got through .
Yours didn't .
So , all you had to do Brah was pick up the phone .
You need to look at your communication systems !
I'm happy it worked out in the end .

Aloha , and Keep it Pono .
 
Not interested. We see the world differently. No, not everyone is entitled to happiness. Strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, hard times create strong men.
 
Late this afternoon I emailed TUS and brought this thread to their attention .
Their response was almost immediate .
My email got through .
Yours didn't .
So , all you had to do Brah was pick up the phone .
You need to look at your communication systems !
I'm happy it worked out in the end .

Aloha , and Keep it Pono .
You said "Update: Andrew from TUS replied here, took ownership of the situation and apologized."

Brah , You owe an apology as well .

Aloha , and Keep it Pono .
 
I don’t think so. Aaron’s been a good customer and is open to being one again. That’s the people that keep us alive as a business. And we are here for him with any issues along the way and hope to help again and give him positive experiences. Enough people have experienced our support to keep us around for the last 18 years but I don’t take it for granted and need to always strive to improve and evolve. I AM sorry he was ignored, and appreciate the kind forgiveness. Simple as that. Nothing else really needs to be hashed out as far as I can tell. What is a forum if you can’t complain about some stuff.
 
I don’t think so. Aaron’s been a good customer and is open to being one again. That’s the people that keep us alive as a business. And we are here for him with any issues along the way and hope to help again and give him positive experiences. Enough people have experienced our support to keep us around for the last 18 years but I don’t take it for granted and need to always strive to improve and evolve. I AM sorry he was ignored, and appreciate the kind forgiveness. Simple as that. Nothing else really needs to be hashed out as far as I can tell. What is a forum if you can’t complain about some stuff.
TUS has spoken .
I'm glad I was able to facilitate a positive outcome to Karen's problem .
 
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What overreacting?
He had a valid concern and voiced it to the community as a last resort after being completely ignored, beyond reasonable doubt.
There are no signs that aaron is being anxious or unhealthy about this ordeal.

Yes, compared to the many other things that could go wrong this is a 'minor' incident.
However, it still is objectively unacceptable from a customer and entrant perspective.

Like I said in my earlier post, people who seem to believe that aaron is 'over reacting' are obviously happy with being treated badly.

TUS's successful webstore, podcasts and general publicity aside, what happened to aaron is wrong and he deserves an explanation directly from them. He has tried to contact them via the proper communication channels, but remains unreciprocated.

Hmm. I think maybe I wasn't as clear or careful as I thought I was being. I used a lot of weasel(ish) words ("it seems"; "I think"; "it's likely", etc.) to be cautious.

You ask "what overreacting" and state that "he had a valid concern" as a last resort. I think you're correct, and I don't dispute that at all. But I don't agree with some other things you say.

I do think Aaron was being anxious/unhealthy about it. Being upset that he's not getting responses isn't anxious or unhealthy. But being "VERY upset" about the whole affair and all the worrying he does afterwards does sound overly obsessive. My point is that it's not impossible that HMS screwed up AND Aaron wasn't handling it well. So when you say things like "people who believe that aaron is 'over reacting' are obviously happy with being treated badly," this seems like a pretty unfair characterization. I don't like being treated badly. I would be upset in Aaron's shoes. But clearly there's a line to how upset you can be before it's an overreaction. If Aaron went out and started beating up little kids at the park because he was so upset, it wouldn't mean I would automatically think HMS did no wrong. I would think even though HMS messed up, Aaron's reaction was drastically disproportionate in response. Again, that doesn't mean he needs to suck it up and have no response. Like I said, I too, would be upset. But Aaron's reaction seems stronger than warranted. I hate that he's gotten bitter responses and especially bitter private messages--THAT seems to warrant more stress to me.

I appreciate that you're stepping up to in Aaron's defense. But it's also hard not to read your comments (to me and others) as a little heated as well. I tried to craft my response to Aaron and this one to you as diplomatically and cautiously as possible without completely siding with you or him. But I'm genuinely uncertain that your response to me (if you respond) won't be hostile or at least sound that way. Maybe something to consider.
 
Sadly, a fair amount of toxic replies here... forget about who's right, who's wrong, who you think is right, who you think is wrong... don't we all have enough stress in our day-to-day lives that we should be able to escape all of that here?

I picked up a ukulele for the first time in the early days of the pandemic, knowing that I needed something to take my mind off of a world spinning way out of control, even if it was only to distract myself from everything for a little while each day (and the ukulele has, predictably, become much more than that, bordering on an obsession...)

Isn't this forum really just an extension of our playing?

I hope we don't spoil UUF by bringing the same kind of social media toxicity that abounds on Facebook and Twitter here... as for those who seem toxic to me? I'm not going to engage, I'm just going to hit the little "ignore" button on their profile... life's too short. I just hope I don't find myself doing that more often than I already have this morning...
 
I think this post has run its course and we'll all be sorta beating on a dead horse beyond this point.
My concluding remark will be to quote Andrew K's earlier post:

AndrewKuker said:
I don’t think so. Aaron’s been a good customer and is open to being one again. That’s the people that keep us alive as a business. And we are here for him with any issues along the way and hope to help again and give him positive experiences. Enough people have experienced our support to keep us around for the last 18 years but I don’t take it for granted and need to always strive to improve and evolve. I AM sorry he was ignored, and appreciate the kind forgiveness. Simple as that. Nothing else really needs to be hashed out as far as I can tell. What is a forum if you can’t complain about some stuff

I have been around forums for a very long time... decades. I have experience in running forums, and in fact I am the founder of another significantly sized forum for a different instrument.

One thing I learned over the years is that a forum should allow people to voice both positive and negative things, provided it is within reason and kept civil and polite.

As my earlier posts have all mentioned, Aaron had valid concerns and presented his case by stating facts.
There is nothing wrong with that. People who complain in the manner of "Oh you shouldn't have made this post because it's negative in some way" are living in a dream world.

In the real world, there are often real problems that get dealt with by bringing it out to the open and shining some light on it.
As we can see, TUS understood Aaron's sentiment precisely and handled the situation with absolute grace and respect. And I respect TUS even more for how open and down-to-earth they have been over this ordeal.

As for the people who are being hostile towards Aaron or saying that he owes an apology... we're just going to have to agree to disagree.
I cannot agree to such sentiments. People should not be discouraged or shunned from sharing their story, especially when it is based on facts and has caused a valid concern.
 
As always, if you play the victim long enough, humans will apologize for anything. Next time they consider a contest, they'll think "yeah but remember that one time we hurt that guy's feelings? Maybe it's better we didn't?" and then some poor kid who's been playing his heart out on a $50 Kala for 3 years will miss out on the opportunity to win a better instrument. smdh. It wasn't a fumble. He's saying that to appease you. You weren't owed anything.

Somebody needs a hug and to throw out his copy of Atlas Shrugged.
 
Hmm. I think maybe I wasn't as clear or careful as I thought I was being. I used a lot of weasel(ish) words ("it seems"; "I think"; "it's likely", etc.) to be cautious.

You ask "what overreacting" and state that "he had a valid concern" as a last resort. I think you're correct, and I don't dispute that at all. But I don't agree with some other things you say.

I do think Aaron was being anxious/unhealthy about it. Being upset that he's not getting responses isn't anxious or unhealthy. But being "VERY upset" about the whole affair and all the worrying he does afterwards does sound overly obsessive. My point is that it's not impossible that HMS screwed up AND Aaron wasn't handling it well. So when you say things like "people who believe that aaron is 'over reacting' are obviously happy with being treated badly," this seems like a pretty unfair characterization. I don't like being treated badly. I would be upset in Aaron's shoes. But clearly there's a line to how upset you can be before it's an overreaction. If Aaron went out and started beating up little kids at the park because he was so upset, it wouldn't mean I would automatically think HMS did no wrong. I would think even though HMS messed up, Aaron's reaction was drastically disproportionate in response. Again, that doesn't mean he needs to suck it up and have no response. Like I said, I too, would be upset. But Aaron's reaction seems stronger than warranted. I hate that he's gotten bitter responses and especially bitter private messages--THAT seems to warrant more stress to me.

I appreciate that you're stepping up to in Aaron's defense. But it's also hard not to read your comments (to me and others) as a little heated as well. I tried to craft my response to Aaron and this one to you as diplomatically and cautiously as possible without completely siding with you or him. But I'm genuinely uncertain that your response to me (if you respond) won't be hostile or at least sound that way. Maybe something to consider.
How did you know about the park incident 😰

FWIW I very much appreciate Kissing’s vigorous defense but I wasn’t personally offended in any way by your comment.

Anyway folks…. How’s a guy go about shutting down a thread?
 
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