How many of you are skipping the line at HMS?

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Wow. That looks interesting that you can now pay a little extra to have it shipped out with set-up the same day. Just wondering if that is a slippery slope of pushing back the orders of people that don't pay for the expedited shipping even further, and/or eventually moving toward the direction of charging for set-up. Just a thought...
 
Wow, hmmmm, that’s new — and interesting. I just got a new uke from HMS about two months ago (or so); I don’t recall that option being available at the time I purchased, so it must have gone into practice fairly recently, I’d imagine. I always wait the extra time for the full-setup, but $30 seems very reasonable for an expedited service like that - I’d be tempted to go that route. I wonder if that expedited line will get backlogged as well. :-/
 
I like this addition to their options. I venture to guess that they were losing some sales because of the turnaround time of about three days for an expedited setup or up to two weeks for a full setup. Some buyers, including some visiting their shops and wanting to pick up their purchase to take home with them, might go elsewhere due to this delay. It does not feel okay to make the purchase without a setup when in a rush because you go to HMS because of this service.

I don't expect there will be so much demand for this one day setup that the others would be delayed much. It may well be that the money will go to someone willing to work extra to get it done so they can make the sale.
 
I've purchased two ukes from HMS and went with the full setup both times. An extra week or two for the quality of the work they do is not an issue for me. Custom builds can take anywhere from several months to several years. I can wait two weeks standing on my head. ;)
 
I've gotten so used to 90+ days delivery on AliExpress lately, I wouldn't notice an extra 7-10 days from HMS. I'll keep my $30. :rofl:
 
If my current uke from HMS arrives as planned,
It will be 9 business days from order (including 2 Saturdays). But Joel also spent 30 mins on the phone with me answering all my questions in full detail...so I do not mind the wait.
 
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That’s awesome! Yet another reason to support a Hawaiian business in these crazy times.

I know that Glenn wasn’t trying to ruffle feathers with his preference for aliexpress, but I hope everyone here knows how important every order is to the HMS team. It’s a little wild here on Oahu with the lockdowns and the lost tourism, so any dollars which go towards HMS are helping to support a group of great folks who could use the help. I hope some more folks find some fits for them at HMS!
 
Have they taken this option away? I checked at least 15 different ukuleles, 4 different brands, and could not find this option on any of them...?
 
The no-setup option is there for the three least-expensive ukes listed.

Edit - It’s also there for two Steve Grimes ukes ($6200 and $7800), and for some of the other higher-end single-luthier instruments (but not all).
 
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Jerryc41 said:
I'd like to know how they go from a week to one day for a setup. I'd save the $30.
Click to expand...

Easy, for your $30 somebody hands your ukulele to the setup guy ahead of the queue. What I want to know is what happens when everybody checks off the $30 expedite box?
 
kkimura said:
Easy, for your $30 somebody hands your ukulele to the setup guy ahead of the queue. What I want to know is what happens when everybody checks off the $30 expedite box?
Click to expand...

Ah, the classic Game Theory conundrum. If everyone pays the $30 the result is the same if no one pays the $30. You only "win" if you pay the extra and there are people that don't pay the extra. :D
 
kkimura said:
Easy, for your $30 somebody hands your ukulele to the setup guy ahead of the queue. What I want to know is what happens when everybody checks off the $30 expedite box?
Click to expand...

They used to have a semi-setup for faster delivery. Do they still have that? I wonder if they have more people doing setups.
 
Jerryc41 said:
They used to have a semi-setup for faster delivery. Do they still have that? I wonder if they have more people doing setups.
Click to expand...

Randomly browsing around the HMS site I saw three setup options offered; no setup, expedited and the regular setup. The new "skip the line" setup doesn't appear anywhere I looked. But, I didn't look at every ukulele offered.
 
Getting the "best" setup HMS offers is what I want. I assume it's the full setup and am happy to wait to get it. I guess if there were a much higher charge for the full setup compared to my local setup person who does a very good job, I might thing about it. Hopefully, this is never an issue.

I can come up with a few reasons someone might pay to "skip the line" because of a need to get their uke quickly, but waiting for the full setup (especially since they give me exactly what I ask for) is never a problem for me.
 
Ed1 said:
Getting the "best" setup HMS offers is what I want. I assume it's the full setup and am happy to wait to get it. I guess if there were a much higher charge for the full setup compared to my local setup person who does a very good job, I might thing about it. Hopefully, this is never an issue.

I can come up with a few reasons someone might pay to "skip the line" because of a need to get their uke quickly, but waiting for the full setup (especially since they give me exactly what I ask for) is never a problem for me.
Click to expand...

I like a nice setup, too, theoretically. I must admit, though, that I bet half of my ukes need a good setup, but I just pick them up and play them. I bought an electric uke from a seller who claims to do a setup (Not Mim - she's great). The electric part wouldn't turn on, which made me wonder how much of a setup he did.
 
bynapkinart said:
That’s awesome! Yet another reason to support a Hawaiian business in these crazy times.

I know that Glenn wasn’t trying to ruffle feathers with his preference for aliexpress, but I hope everyone here knows how important every order is to the HMS team. It’s a little wild here on Oahu with the lockdowns and the lost tourism, so any dollars which go towards HMS are helping to support a group of great folks who could use the help. I hope some more folks find some fits for them at HMS!
Click to expand...

I wasn't stating a preference for Ali (I buy cheap non-uke related items there). I was saying Ali has taught me patience and it's not a big deal to wait 7-10 days extra for something from HMS. I've bought from HMS before and would buy from them again, but wouldn't be interested in jumping the queue.
 
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I recently watched a guy adjust the string height at the nut in less than 5 minutes. Granted he didn’t adjust the saddle or level the frets, but how long does a setup actually take?
 
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