Yeah, but that's always the best you can do without an external note. And if there are no external notes around, you could argue it's all that matters;)
It starts out arbitrary but becomes useful once everyone agrees with it, like measuring distance in meters- which has gone through several definitions, none of which make much sense in terms of being based on a natural constant and using a nice round numbers as a coefficient.
If four instruments are following the standard and one is a bit flat because "A-440 Hz is arbitrary" then the whole band sounds like a mess.
Sometimes people intentionally want the effect of a guitar that's in tune relative to itself (which provides harmonies and aesthetic value) but not necessarily on the normal scale or relative to other instruments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMhrF-LvfUk