I'm not sure that the way I was treated falls into the category of rude. Here's the short version: I noticed an issue, called the builder, and stated the problem, after both my ukulele instructor and my local luthier had independently of each other confirmed that it was the uke and not me. But over the phone, the builder strongly suggested
my technique was to blame - mind you, having never seen or heard me play - and didn't offer to fix it or to pay for me to ship it back to him or anything.
Since I was at the time happy with everything else about the uke, my local luthier was kind enough to do what he could (gratis) to minimize the issue, but after spending a long time with it he still could only do so much. Fair enough. I called the builder again, who was scheduled to be travelling nearby soon, and asked if I could meet up with him to show him in person that it was the uke and not my technique.
I then took a day off from work, drove 50+ miles to where he was expected to be, and when I got there, one of his associates told me that he had some issue come up and wouldn't be there until the next day. The builder never even bothered to call me himself, to save me the drive, to apologize - nothing. It was just lousy customer service all around - blame the customer for a problem rather than take responsibility, and then be so self-important that in this day and age of smartphones you can't even make a phonecall or send a text or email. At that point I was done. Time to cut my losses and move on.
As for naming names - I still firmly believe this was an isolated incident, but one that left me with incredibly bad feelings. I have no idea what the builder may have been going through personally at the time, but I do know that he has some much higher-profile clients than myself and never seemed to lack time or interest for them. I just felt as if I was dismissed as a nobody. Which, hey, in the uke world I am - I don't play out or go to festivals or any if that, and from a business point of view - sure, the builder should support his clients who do those things, as it helps spread the word about his work. It's called "marketing"
So - all of this was so much more about how the experience made me feel, rather than the actual uke itself.
Doesn't everything in life??