Just thought I would share something I discovered. I had an Anuenue Moon Bird concert. A few months back I sold it and soon realized that was a horrible mistake and went looking for another. HMS did not have any listed, so I started checking Reverb and Ebay, where I found some very overpriced listings for new Moon Birds.
When I looked at the photos however, I saw that the holographic sticker of authenticy (which has the serial #) was removed. I asked the seller why the removed it and was told "because I think the stickers are ugly" which seemed like an odd reason particularly since the sellers sticker they replaced the Anuenue sticker was quite honestly rather ugly.
I was concerned that this meant they were either counterfeit, B-Stock, or maybe even stolen. I might be overly paranoid, but having had to return a Kala for serious maunfacturing defects, I contacted Anuenue asking if they would honor the warranty without the sticker. I was told no they would not (they directed me to this web page on the Anuenue site: http://www.anuenue-uke.com/en/story/index/2) which specifcally states that removal of the serial # sticker invalidates the warranty.
I know it is probably pretty unlikely that a North America or European buyer is likely to be sending a Moon Bird (or other high end quality Anuenue) back for a warranty issue, but I thought I would share this just in case, since just this week a friend of mine started to buy one and asked me about the same listings I had looked at on Reverb.
I steered him away, and sent him to HMS since they actually often have Anuenue's in stock not listed on the website (that's how I got mine from HMS... I called and asked when they would have more in stock, and Andrew told me they had more that weren't listed yet).
Besides, an uke from the reputable folks at places like HMS/Mim/Uke Republic/Eldery/World of Ukes/Southern Ukelele Store is going to have a proper setup, almost certainly better than something from a generic seller on Ebay or Reverb!
When I looked at the photos however, I saw that the holographic sticker of authenticy (which has the serial #) was removed. I asked the seller why the removed it and was told "because I think the stickers are ugly" which seemed like an odd reason particularly since the sellers sticker they replaced the Anuenue sticker was quite honestly rather ugly.
I was concerned that this meant they were either counterfeit, B-Stock, or maybe even stolen. I might be overly paranoid, but having had to return a Kala for serious maunfacturing defects, I contacted Anuenue asking if they would honor the warranty without the sticker. I was told no they would not (they directed me to this web page on the Anuenue site: http://www.anuenue-uke.com/en/story/index/2) which specifcally states that removal of the serial # sticker invalidates the warranty.
I know it is probably pretty unlikely that a North America or European buyer is likely to be sending a Moon Bird (or other high end quality Anuenue) back for a warranty issue, but I thought I would share this just in case, since just this week a friend of mine started to buy one and asked me about the same listings I had looked at on Reverb.
I steered him away, and sent him to HMS since they actually often have Anuenue's in stock not listed on the website (that's how I got mine from HMS... I called and asked when they would have more in stock, and Andrew told me they had more that weren't listed yet).
Besides, an uke from the reputable folks at places like HMS/Mim/Uke Republic/Eldery/World of Ukes/Southern Ukelele Store is going to have a proper setup, almost certainly better than something from a generic seller on Ebay or Reverb!
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