Bulletin Board: FWIW, first-hand experience with "Moreukes" on eBay

Original Post By: ChefJeff Date: 6/13/2008 4:50:32 PM On 5/29, slightly more than two weeks ago, I "won" two baritone ukes listed on eBay by Moreukes, the seller who has been discussed here before. I paid immediately via PayPal. I don't know if eBay has standards about how soon sellers are supposed to ship but when I sell on eBay or Half.com I always ship same or next day latest and that has been my experience with almost every seller since I started on eBay in 1998. When nearly two weeks went by with no tracking number email let alone ukuleles, I emailed Moreukes to ask if he'd shipped yet. This was his reply: "contact my shipper, ca127@postnet.com, or call him 916-353-1276. He will provide details" I emailed but got no reply so today I called California. The man who answered said Moreukes had just dropped off 31 ukes yesterday (after getting my email?) and he was digging through the pile as fast as he could. As I said, I don't know if this is within eBay's policies or not and when I finally get them I'm still hoping I'll feel I got a really good deal. The price was certainly right so if they aren't cracked I'm likely to be a very happy camper. But FWIW, if you buy from that guy, don't expect quick service regardless of what some of his feedback says. Posted By: wearymicrobe Date: 6/13/2008 5:25:26 PM He is very slow in shipping and very bad at describing the instruments, its still a gamble in my opinion. It took ~30 days for me to get mine and it was not in the shape he described. Posted By: shawn Date: 6/13/2008 8:24:39 PM   (Updated: 6/13/2008 8:26:21 PM) I too had difficulty in soliciting shipping information from him and received the exact same response in an email a week after the auction closed saying, "contact my shipper, ca127@postnet.com, or call him 916-353-1276." To make things more complicated I purchased what was claimed to be a "mint" tenor and when it got in it needed a number of repairs (all claimed to have happened in "transit"). Hairlines and major checking in the finish neither of which was indicated in the original auction. Luckily, my repairman had no issue with the repairs or the refinish but it did run me an extra cost to get them restored to the original condition it was claimed to be in to start with. I guess I was a little unfortunate in this regard because email after email and no responses (and no uke for 3 weeks) I thought I just ate the cost at $1000. Fortunately, I paid via paypal and opened a dispute. Only then was he quick to respond. I don't have anything against the guy personally. I just wish he would be a little more sensitive to the emails we send over requesting shipping info, close-up photos, and shipping that would be a little more timely. best, Shawn Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 6/14/2008 10:38:11 PM Update: After posting this I received an email containing a DHL tracking number. The number became "live" overnight and now says my ukes left DHL's Fresno hub this (Saturday)morning. Hopefully, I'll have them by the end of this week or early next and they will be as listed. If anyone is interested, I'll post about what I receive and when. Posted By: mLKauai Date: 6/14/2008 10:41:03 PM yep; let us know; how you like the baritones and all.. Posted By: Kevin Ko Date: 6/15/2008 9:49:23 AM I bought, and received a 1999 Koaloha concert from Moreukes in May. It took perhaps a week longer to arrive than I had hoped, but it is in perfect condition, as described. It is Koaloha's "old" style with a round soundhole (not musubi), a one-piece top, back and even one-piece sides, koa neck, and long bridge with two white mini dots. It was well packed. maybe I got lucky, but I couldn't be happier with the ukulele. Kevin Posted By: Posgroup Date: 6/15/2008 10:26:51 AM I bought and received a Harmony Baritone from moreukes. It had two minor cracks on one side that were not mentioned, and the high E string buzzes (unless I strum VERY softly), even after I installed new Aquila strings. It was well packaged. For the money I paid, a decent deal. Kind regards, Jerry Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 6/19/2008 10:12:58 AM As promised, this is my final update: The two ukes I bought from Moreukes on eBay finally arrived. The first is a Harmony baritone I won for a very low price. Yes, I know it's from the sixties and you have to expect dings, dents and other uglies but I'd have been happier if Moreukes had disclosed that two back braces are loose at one end. And he must have known it because it "squeaks" when you handle the body. Once they are re-glued, I believe I'll have a nice uke so this should work out OK. The other is a Mele baritone with cutaway, abalone purfling and soundhole ring, etc. This is a very nice uke with no cracks but despite the hang tag, etc. it definitely ISN'T new. Not only does it have the odd ding here and there (which could have come from handling, even in a collection), judging by the nail scratches this one has definitely been played. Worse, every string buzzes badly when played open. The neck looks straight but it appears that someone messed with it trying to lower the action and went too far. The first clue is it has a white saddle and a black nut. Also, the saddle is lower on the treble side, something I doubt Michael Rock would have done. I tried three thicknesses of paper under the string in the nut slot and was able to temporarily fix the buzz on two of the strings so I'm expecting this one to be a good player too after a little work. My purpose here is not to trash anyone. I know that when you buy on eBay you pays your money and takes your chance. And I bought these ukes at a price that will make both a good deal when the fixes are complete. But for those who might be considering bidding on his offerings, it's clear to me from my experience and what others have said that (a) Moreukes doesn't describe his ukes accurately or at least not completely and (b) he takes two to three weeks to ship. There will be no more Moreukes ukes for me but for those who like rolling the dice, I wish you good luck. Posted By: old smelly bob Date: 6/19/2008 11:32:31 AM Chef, i bought a Fender 112 amp from a guy in florida. the closing bid was at the exact time a hurricane hit there. it was a month before he got back online, and he was way lucky, he had only lost half of his new roof, and his music room was under the remaining half, plus he was retired USPO, and did a way righteous packing job. lucky moi... Posted By: Billbo66 Date: 6/19/2008 2:29:07 PM The guitar I purchased arrived with the bridge coming off (shipped with strings under tension), the frets popping out, fingerboard unattached to the top, and several cracks. $450 in repairs needed to make it playable. The seller did offer me some money back to offset the repairs, so I do feel like he tried to be fair. His emails are very slow, and hard to interpret. I did some research on La Quinta, CA (location of the seller). The humidity is around 22%, with temperatures in the 90s. I think the instruments are not kept properly humidified, and that they see high heat in a delivery truck. That is the only way I can imagine so many of these ukes arrive damaged. Posted By: Wiley Date: 6/19/2008 3:05:56 PM La Quinta was/is a major retirement destination for many SoCal aerospace workers from the 60's - 80's. The area is recognized for some world-class golf country clubs and huge retirement communities. I imagine that there is an increasing number of instruments popping up in estate sales there. Posted By: yodelinglee Date: 6/20/2008 5:42:05 PM an interesting thought, Wiley. I will be down there for about 3 weeks at the end of Feb. I will look into that. Hope you are healing up OK. See you at the Uketoberfest in Eugene in Oct. Dinner is on me. Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 6/20/2008 6:41:33 PM Billbo66, I think you're right. My Mele bari has sharp fret ends and maybe some sinking of the soundboard so now I'm inclined to think maybe all its problems are due to dry storage. Fortunately, I didn't see any cracks (and because it's a Mele, I looked) nor any other separations. Like you, I've sent it to my favorite luthier for a good checkup and setup. Unless he says it's junk, which I'm not expecting, I'm going to chalk the cost of repairs up to lessons learned rather than try to deal with Moreukes any further. Fool me once, shame on you..... Posted By: hoaryhead Date: 6/20/2008 7:04:39 PM I live about 80 miles to the southwest of La Quinta, and I run a humidifier 24/7. If nice instruments are being stored in the high desert with no protection, I'd pass. Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 6/25/2008 9:01:38 AM Sorry to belabor this but I see Moreukes has posted another lot so it's important that anyone who is considering bidding know about the two I bought. As I posted earlier, the problems I had with the Harmony (loose braces) and especially the Mele might have indicated dry storage. Well, now it's confirmed, at least to me. I sent both ukes to a highly respected luthier and he says the Mele's neck is badly bowed. That, together with the very sharp fret ends on both sides of the neck and slight collapse of the soundboard convinces me Moreukes is storing his "collection" in La Quinta, which I believe is in the desert near Palm Springs, without humidifying them. What a shame. Buyer beware. Posted By: hokeypokey Date: 6/26/2008 9:58:54 PM ChefJeff -- what a bummer. I'm really disappointed for you, especially with the new foray into baritones. Thanks for alerting the rest of us. Posted By: mLKauai Date: 6/27/2008 1:13:08 AM   (Updated: 6/27/2008 1:36:35 AM) ditto hokeypokey; feel bad for you; ..... if you have some money left; check this out: i just got a Kala mahog laminate Bari from MGM (he put aquila cGEA strings and threw a low g wound on just for me too, set the action, and i tell you, it sings) ! Posted By: schultzoo Date: 6/27/2008 1:27:26 AM Not sure how this will work out yet, but hopeful that we'll resolve everything. I purchased (at a great price) a Mele soprano from moreukes that when received was not as described in the auction. I notified him and he is willing to replace it. Yes, his shipping is slow, but that is what he states in the auction (7-10 days). I think he just has too many things going on, and loses track of what he's got going out. Hopefully my problem will be resolved but at this point I'm not overly concerned. BTW, I bought another from him a few months ago that was exactly as described and also a great deal. Posted By: vjflrd Date: 6/27/2008 10:17:27 AM mLKauai what's the model number? i've been listening to kahauanu lake the past few days and i want to get a baritone to figure out his wonderful jazz chords. vince Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 6/28/2008 9:20:58 AM Thanks, Schultzoo but I've decided that the old proverb "once burned, twice cautious" applies here. I'm sure the braces on the Harmony I bought from him can be reglued but not so sure about the Mele's problems. I'm putting my faith in my favorite luthier but if he can't fix the neck I'm afraid it's junk. Oh, and you're right, sort of. Moreukes does say to allow 7 to 10 days for shipping... now. But that's only true for his last batch of ukes. In all prior sales he said nothing about slow shipping. And when you finally ask him if he's shipped yet Moreukes tersely refers you to "his shipper." The Shipper failed to reply to my emails but when I finally phoned him he said Moreukes had just dropped off the past two batches (32 ukes) the day before. As I said earlier, ya' pays yer money and ya' takes yer chance. Best of luck on your replacement. Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 6/28/2008 9:34:21 AM Oh, and thanks Mike L. for the comments about the Kala but I think I'm full up on baritones right now. In addition to the two I got from Moreukes, I also bought a nice Harmony then got a great deal on a Macassar ebony and spruce Pono from Rob Deel of The Ukulele Shop. We've got our hands full here at the moment so I haven't been playing much but when I've had a little time to play I found I love them both. Posted By: jude Date: 6/30/2008 10:09:23 PM Here's my first hand account of my dealings with moreukes. I have bought 6 ukes total from him. He takes forever to ship. He answers shipping inquiries infrequently and with poor information. One full body koa tenor had some fine cracking on the back. I made no fuss. The most expensive one I bought though, a six string Mele tenor koa cutaway with shell inlay arrived after 2 weeks of waiting. Unfortunately, he sent me someone elses matching 4 string. Because he was so slow answering my emails letting him know he had sent me the incorrect (and less expensive) 4 string, I contacted the correct buyer myself just to let him know I was in possesion of his ukulele. Somehow mine remained with moreukes. It took him 2 more weeks to ship mine and I charged him 45 dollars to ship the uke directly to the correct buyer who I remained in contact with (though I would have sent it to the rightful owner even if moreukes refused to pay). He kept saying he would make the shipping deposit "the next day". The next day came and went 9 times before he actually did make the deposit. Here is where my story really began to sour. Mine arrived more than 4 weeks after I paid nearly 400 bucks for it and it is falling apart. Dry climate damage for sure. Of course he is claiming shipping damage and wants me to allow him to make a claim against UPS. I would consider this fraudulent since there is no way the amount of separation in the binding of mine and a crack the full length of the bookmatch top could occur during 4 days on route from CA to Louisiana. I have asked for a refund and so far he has refused. If he fails to offer it to me by tomorrow, I will file disputes with both paypal and ebay. Anybody else that got scr*wed by this guy selling off his dry damaged ukes acting like UPS cooked them to ruin would be wise to do so as well. I am very happy with the 5 others I purchased (that mysteriously arrived without any low humidity damage), but I can't stand someone who is dishonest that pretends that his instruments were pristine, right up to the moment they arrived at your house. My Mele's that came from the shop in HI came in pristine condition and travelled twice the distance "in the heat". Thanks for letting me vent. You can contact me at ohitsjude@yahoo.com if you wish to compare notes on your negative experience. Posted By: mLKauai Date: 7/1/2008 12:39:28 AM   (Updated: 7/1/2008 12:41:34 AM) vjflrd, it is the Ka B.... your basic mahog laminate satin finish. unbelievable. it is so ironic to me; yet somehow an intuitive (sick?) sense tells me that the lowest priced Kala import (a step above Makala which is pretty darn well worth the $60 for a baritone) in tenor and baritone, would be the best sounding or at least comparable in sound and playability to ukes 5 to 10 times the cost! not to mention that Lanikai is often $30 to 40 less for the same uke; different name... (although i like Kala because is says mahogany where the Lanikai is using Nato. Does Kala sound better because of it? I honestly couldnt say). Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 7/2/2008 10:37:38 AM Hey Jude (sorry, had to do it), I started this thread so readers of this board would know what Moreukes is selling and how he tells people to file claims with UPS. Unfortunately, these comments only reach those who read them here. You can do the public a favor by posting feedback about your negative experiences on eBay where every prospective buyer will see it. Posted By: Kirbster Date: 7/4/2008 8:32:39 AM Strange, moreukes had a fresh batch of Mele's on eBay that were supposed to end tonite but as of this morning, all are removed. I hadn't bid on any of them, though I have been tempted, it just seems odd that they were all removed with a day remaining on the auctions. Or did I sleep through the 4th???

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