I don't think this is cool at all

genyukulele said:
You gotta be kidding me. He’s giving advice HE doesn’t even follow!!!! He “hates” discounts—yeah, okay and yet he has “discounts” all over the place. And he doesn’t bundle—he nickles and dimes every little thing! Unbelievable. And sheesh, all those hashtags.
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@genyukulele you made a great point. He goes on a tirade against discounts, yet his ULTP website is full of items that are discounted, on sale and marked down. Seems like a contradiction, UNLESS those "discounts" he's having at his store aren't real discounts at all...

p.s. yeah those hashtags are ridiculous
 
This thread is threatening to become longer than the WHAT ARE YOU READING thread... which will be a bit sad if it happens...

I am looking forward to the oysters, though...

Rage on!
 
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Ila said:
Good morning. I'm sure some of you are curious about my experience at the ULTP festival yesterday. Am I glad I went? Yes. Would I go again? Not on your life.

First, let's get to the positive. Was the music incredible? You bet. The music was so skillfully performed that on more than one occasion, I yelled, "Holy crap!" and nearly dropped my uke in applause. Strumming hands flying so fast they were blurred. Fretting hands all over the neck in a wild frenzy that was ear candy. And yes, even seasoned artists can make a mistake here and there, which was heart warming for a noob like me and taught me a valuable lesson in the vulnerability of professionals, and the compassion of a uke-based audience just out to enjoy the love of music.

I attended some of the workshop sessions, which unfortunately meant missing some of the performances that were going on simultaneously. Attending some of the performances, in turn, meant missing some of the workshops that I had wanted to attend. Of the workshops I did attend, I found one very interesting. Joe Souza from Kanilea gave a fascinating talk about building ukes, harvesting only felled and dead trees, sustainability, finishes, etc., and he brought samples of pieces of ukes in the building process to pass around so we could all see exactly what he was talking about. Really impressive.

Other workshops were just plain fun, with a play along, but not so much to offer in the education department. In other words, I'm still struggling with that pesky Bb, and I groaned audibly when it was announced a Bb would be needed for a play along, much to the amusement and chuckling of more seasoned players around me. But we all laughed about it, so it's all good.

I met people from all over the planet. Someone even flew in from the UK for the event. Like me, she's only been playing a few months, but she's been bitten by the UAS syndrome severely. She already has 27 ukes and she even won another in the raffle later in the evening. Another couple I met flew in from Washington, and they were customers of ULTP, and very pro TC. I met people from other states as well, and some from northern California, too. The people I met were all really nice. Just the type of kind souls you'd expect at a uke festival.

And I got to meet some of the artists as well. I met UU's own Aldrine Guerrero, who put on a stellar performance as well as a fun workshop. He, and others, remarked on what a beautiful uke I brought, so I was beaming with pride.
View attachment 143059

(Speaking of my beautiful uke, one of the attendees I met also had an Enya Nova tenor in black. When I pulled my uke out of its case to show it to him and his wife, they gasped wide-eyed. Man, was I ever thrilled with that reaction!) Yes, I think it's pretty gorgeous, myself. And while you can't see it in the above picture, it has another hummingbird on the headstock.

I mentioned to Aldrine that I often host the UU International Open Mic from Seasons of the Ukulele, and he was genuinely surprised and happy to meet me. That was a treat.

More in the next post....
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Man, is your Enya ever gorgeous! Stencilling, no? (I just love how creative folks are.)

(Sorry to all for reviving this thread -- I've been enjoying reading it through, because I like a good popcorn party, and learning a lot. I just had to comment on Ila's beautiful uke!)
 
ZaBeth said:
Man, is your Enya ever gorgeous! Stencilling, no? (I just love how creative folks are.)

(Sorry to all for reviving this thread -- I've been enjoying reading it through, because I like a good popcorn party, and learning a lot. I just had to comment on Ila's beautiful uke!)
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Thank you so much! I love it, too. It's actually just stickers, believe it or not! And they're available on Amazon.
 
I’m glad to find out that I’m not the only one to find his videos cringy. I feel like he is an astute business man but does not appeal to me at all. I try to avoid his videos and website. However…

Technically, he’s not wrong about adding value, but I think he’s conveying it quite poorly. I suspect he isn’t fully taking advantage of market segmentation and might just be targeting a very specific psychographic with his videos. I’d be willing to bet he appeals greatly to younger and newer uke players. Much less so with older millennials and above, which statistically have more disposable income.
 
SurferJay said:
Haha so true.. definitely a guy who wouldn’t even give the drippings off his nose for free.. probably offer them as Ukulele oil (snake edition).
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True.
forum.ukuleleunderground.com

Done! - Delete Negative Feedback Threads? Nope!

This issue arose in response to a member sharing their opinions on an experience with a well-known and (on the forum) well-respected business. The poster was not making a personal attack, but was providing a summary of what they considered was a negative experience. Another poster responded...
forum.ukuleleunderground.com forum.ukuleleunderground.com
 
His practices may hurt his success at some level eventually. Other merchants are far superior in every way that cater to the love of the instrument as their first focus whereas Terry seems to cater to the "how can I maximize revenue as my sole focus" paradigm. I bought a uke that was less than to my liking about a year and a half ago. I asked to return it after a few days. He agreed to accept the return but I would have to pay return shipping and would have to pay for the original shipping to me as well. OK, fair enough. I would expect to do that. Then, in order to avoid a 20 percent restocking fee I could buy a more expensive uke than the one I returned. Alrighty, I wanted a Romero Creations Rosewood and Cedar Grand Tenor anyway so I bought that and he charged me for the shipping back to me as it was a replacement purchase. I said I thought shipping for the instrument was free since he was not out any money for the prior purchase shipping and return shipping of the original instrument. Nope. I paid shipping again. Figured maybe it was due to it would be considered a used instrument but a couple of days later it was listed on the website as new with the same given name as when I purchased it. In fairness it was new as I only played around on it for a few days but usually you might see these listed as a customer return item but who knows really. All in all, the customer service was less than comforting.
 
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sludad said:
His practices may hurt his success at some level eventually. Other merchants are far superior in every way that cater to the love of the instrument as their first focus whereas Terry seems to cater to the "how can I maximize revenue as my sole focus" paradigm. I bought a uke that was less than to my liking about a year and a half ago. I asked to return it after a few days. He agreed to accept the return but I would have to pay return shipping and would have to pay for the original shipping to me as well. OK, fair enough. I would expect to do that. Then, in order to avoid a 20 percent restocking fee I could buy a more expensive uke than the one I returned. Alrighty, I wanted a Romero Creations Rosewood and Cedar Grand Tenor anyway so I bought that and he charged me for the shipping back to me as it was a replacement purchase. I said I thought shipping for the instrument was free since he was not out any money for the prior purchase shipping and return shipping of the original instrument. Nope. I paid shipping again. Figured maybe it was due to it would be considered a used instrument but a couple of days later it was listed on the website as new with the same given name as when I purchased it. In fairness it was new as I only played around on it for a few days but usually you might see these listed as a customer return item but who knows really. All in all, the customer service was less than comforting.
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20% restocking fee unless you bought a more expensive uke! And then he put the one you returned back on his website as a new instrument??? And was it for the same price as you bought it? WOW…
 
I made it through the first 8 and last 4 pages. 48 pages bashing mostly ULTP and a few others! I agree with the ULTP comments. My first look at his videos was enough. Like the old TV car salesmen, you know the ones. Oversize thrift store sport jacket, wide loud tie. Uncle Jack's Friendly Cars. We can't be beat. $99 down, free floor mats........ No thanks.....

Does anyone remember the great original Ukulele World? Started somewhere in the mid 90s I think. Run by an older guy, Roy T. Cone in Seacrest, TX. His site had lots of nice "homespun" comments, but it was good. He carried a wide range of ukes. Accessories, parts, books, CDs, DVDs. He had good, thought out bundles. Case upgrades. I got my 3 Lanikais from him, and several smaller orders.

He would get batches of very nice cases from CGG in Costa Rica, that are special order with long waits. My best Lanikai is in one. He had someone in England make picks for him. There was one style that I really like, a big soft one. No one else has ever had anything close, I'm glad I stocked up.

He always had a friendly thank you note written on the invoices. He'd stick free goodies in every order. A few picks, polishing cloth, free set of whatever strings you last ordered. IIRC his site disappeared around 2012. I emailed him, he had a health issue that pushed him to retire. I'd guess he had a heck of a closeout. Another Ukulele World popped up, just a bunch of poorly written short tutorials and Amazon links. I don't know if it is still around.
 
From TerryCarter.com:

“Now he owns the #1 Ukulele and Guitar Online Store & Repair that carries the best brands of the market! Now, this business with more than 50k customers a year is a powerful machine that keeps growing!

Now with a big inversion in Real Estate, Terry has decided to share his knowledge with the world with his Terry Carter brand a motivational space to coach you to the life of your dreams!”
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He may be a great salesman, I honestly don’t know. But he’s not much of a copy writer. I’m happy to fix it as part of my Web Design Bundle. I accept Hawaiian K Brands in addition to cash.
 
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