I don’t think the issue is with trustworthiness. It’s just that we’re all different. We could all play the same ukulele and review it honestly and it would vary. It’s a very personal thing. You might love a movie someone else doesn’t. Your warm tone might be anothers mud, or bright and articulate can be heard as brash or strident. It depends on your technique and taste.
For looks, some go over it very closely and critically and some view the instruments beauty as a whole or primarily view the value in the sound and feel and spend less time looking or considering whether they agree with a construction technique etc.
Is there a right or wrong? I don’t think so. But keep in mind that people are actually influenced by what they read. Whether it’s just a regurgitated opinion, personal experience, and even when they know it’s from someone without experience, people are influenced by what other people think and write.
A couple times we have had an ukulele returned for buzzing and when we got it back none of us could make it even slightly buzz. Not even heavy handed. Scratching our head…but no big deal, we take care of our customers and do everything we can to make them happy. Now one of those cases I know of was published at the forum. So how useful was that? And on the other side of the spectrum how hurtful can it be to have these undeserved data points in readers minds?
Not that we’ve never deserved a bad review, just saying, opinions are based on personal preference, and sometimes worse, a lack of understanding. Though the latter is more rare, it’s a reality every business lives with today with the available writing and reviewing platforms that the internet offers.
I cherry pick what we carry so naturally I review positively. When someone gets it, they can decide if it’s for them. We offer returns on everything, including custom orders. Reading a random review can be useful. But when buying sight unseen, it’s more important is to trust the people you are buying from. Because like I said, we’re all different. We play differently and we like different things.
Share your thoughts in the comments below. Aloha from all of us at The Ukulele Site.