Strangest on-line harmonica review?
For those of you who from time to time check out buyer and user reviews on line: What's the strangest review you've read?
The other night I was bored and went down a rabbit hole on Amazon, checking out what folks there said about one of my favorite harp models, the Hohner Special 20. Most reviews were 5 stars, but there were a bunch of 1-star reviews that had a common theme. Folks complained about received Special 20s where the key labels had been switched to a different key than the harmonica; where there were stains and food particles stuck in the reeds; where harp was not in a Hohner box; or the box seal had been broken and re-taped. And strangest of all were folks complaining that Hohner was pulling a fast one with their "30 days free lessons" offer, clearly referring to David's bluesharmonica.com offer, saying that the code on the enclosed card didn't work. All of which led me to believe that in all likelihood these were buyers trying to avoid paying full "street" price by using an offshore seller who was re-packaging used harmonicas and including conterfeit lesson offer cards.
But among the weird 1-star reviews was one complaining that the harmonica he or she received was "much smaller than decribed in the product listing." Huh? A shrunken Special 20? Maybe from an Amazon Basin-area tribe that no longer shrinks the heads of captured enemies?
So I looked at the product description. Amazon says the product is about 8" x 5" x 1-1/2." I.e., about the size of Hohner's usual product box. Made me wonder whether or not the person who ordered the harmonica really believed that they were going to get a harp the size of a hardbound Webster's Dictionary.
Your favorite weird review?
Winslow:
I've always marveled at those 1-star "it never arrived" reviews.
Out of curiousity I took a gander at some of your 1- and 2-star reviews on Amazon. A common theme appears to be a complaint that you didn't make playing harmonica "easy-peasy" enough. These may be the same sort of people who return abdominal surgery textbooks because it looks too complicated for them to avoid medical bills by doing it themselves.
Three years ago when I was first starting my journey on the harp, I bought a Manji in A at a very good discounted price on Amazon. It arrived without a box but covered in bubble-wrap and tape. However, since it was in excellent condition and did not appear to be used, I've always assumed someone took a boxed set of three (as was being marketed by Suzuki at the time) and sold them off individually. I used the Manji for a bit but never took to it. Since then, I've ordered my Special 20s and Rockets from Sweetwater.com. To me, it's worth a slightly higher price in order to ensure I actually have a new product.
Ace: Sounds as if you may have gotten something other than a factory-new harp, but that it turned out OK. Which happens frequently.
Sounds like the box was for a chromatic harmonica.
And yes, it does sound like someone is repackaging used harps, and even cobbling them together from mismatched parts.
My books, Harmonica For Dummies and Blues Harmonica For Dummies, have received similary bad reviews when the buyer believed, for no reason other than their own imagination, that the book was for chromatic harmonica when the cover and description clearly state, and show via pictures, that it's for diatonic. I've also read reviews that made it obvious that the reviewer never even opened the book. Or gave the book itself a bad review because delivery was slower than expected.