Miami String Haus — Local services in El Portal

I had a disappointing experience here, especially with Charlie, the owner’s son. It’s clear he’s used to taking advantage of people who don’t know much about violins. He claimed that my perfectly set-up violins are “worthless” and said they give them away all the time. Yet, the violins he offered $20 for were clearly worth $1,500 to $2,000+ each.

When I challenged him and said, “Okay, let me have one then,” he backpedaled, saying they didn’t have any available to give away right now and to come back in a few months—may or may not be there. He got caught up in his own scam sales pitch.

The rest of the staff was polite and professional, but this kind of shady behavior completely undermines the integrity of the business. If you’re not well-versed in violins, be cautious—you could easily be misled. I regret wasting my time on this visit.

Response to response: As a customer, I shared my honest experience — not as a competitor, but as someone who felt disrespected during my visit. I have every right to leave a review based on how I was treated at Miami String Haus, and attempting to deflect that by referencing my professional background is both inappropriate and misleading.

There was no attempt to “pawn” anything. One of your staff members expressed interest in seeing my violins, which is why I drove over an hour to your store. I brought in instruments and gear with offering wholesale value based on their setup and condition. Being told they were “worthless” and that similar violins are “given away” — only to then be told none were available — came across as dismissive and inconsistent. That interaction is exactly what I reflected in my review.

This is not a “conflict of interest.” It’s a firsthand account from a customer who left disappointed and felt misled. There were many ways you could have handled the visit professionally, but instead, you chose to publicly insult me, call my instruments “firewood,” and attempt to discredit my character. That response speaks volumes.

I stand by my review. Customers — especially those without deep knowledge of violins — deserve to know how they may be treated. Your reply only reinforces the...

Enthusiastic staff, great selection, however people need to know about the billing department. My advice to anyone dealing with the billing staff is DO NOT give them any other credit or debit card numbers to cover your monthly bills. They will use whatever card they can with or without your permission.

Had an issue with my “real” credit card that I provided for billing purposes when I signed my contract and used my debit card to cover my monthly payment in the past. Fast forward to today, where I emailed their billing department stating that I had some financial issues and would be able to forward the whole payment to them within a week (my next payday). 45 minutes after sending the email, I look at my online banking and find out that they had already debited the funds from the debit card today presumably because they payment wouldn’t be fast enough.

I understand that they are running a business, and that we are contracted for the monthly payment. However, most of the people renting instruments are parents renting them for their children, and parents occasionally fall on hard times. A business that thrives on parents business shouldn’t make them have to choose between a monthly payment to them and their light bill… oh wait, I didn’t have any choice. Just taking the funds from any account that they might have held onto the debit card number from is devastating to families in some circumstances. Currently I will be left with next to no money until my next payday.

I am considering returning the instrument immediately because of this, if only to get them...

In my personal opinion owner is a narcissist. Extremely unprofessional and unethical in their interactions would strongly not recommend. The most unprofessional business owner I have ever interacted with.

When consigning my violin and selling my bow I ran into some minor issues with cashing a check.

1.) When calling the business and trying to find an alternative resolution the owner tried to extract money from me falsely stating that a check costs 150$ to cancel, acted in a condescending and haughty manner as if his time was the most valuable thing in the world. Tried to and attempted to extract money from me and weirdly accused me of trying to cash a check twice. During my actual interactions with him in person- several times berated employees for taking too long to inspect the violin, consistently displayed a contemptuous, haughty attitude.

2.) They failed to advertise the violin online for the actual consignment. Owner was very aggressive in his pursuit of me consigning the violin probably because he has no intention of actually trying to sell it. When expressing concerns about the contract they failed to make any alterations, and after retaining an attorney it is abundantly clear that they took advantage of me.

These are extremely dishonest and unethical people and I would steer clear from doing any form of...