Piano brethren, This is primarily addressed to those of us who service dealer accounts but is perhaps applicable to us all. I am now, once again, (how do I get into these things anyway) in the middle of a skirmish between the manufacturer, the dealer, and our mutual customer. A piano was sold which inside of 2 1/2 years of it's date of manufacture has developed some minor clicks and general light noise in the action noticable on light playing. During inspection adn general toying around with it I found that a majority of the hammer flanges are pinned with the right side bushing looser than the left and with the end of the pin on the loose side slightly discolored (blackened). This is complicated by an obvious lack of proper regulation and or prep before delivery. Finally, this animal is voice to wake the dead! Now that you all have the background (except the obvious .... the maker), I would now like to offer the following for your musings. Where does the manufacturers/ dealers/ owners responsibilities begin and end? Wouldn't it be nice to have an easy to follow guideline? A line drawn in the sand, so to speak? How does one tactfully handle a problem when they don't know where in the responsibility lies? I have on a number of occasions gone on exploritory service calls requested by the customer where I have eaten the time because of the grey area of , who pays? Not to tasty! I enjoy having the dealer work that I do. That said, I'm finding more and more that dealers in general don't seem to want to spend much if any at all on floor tunings ( not that I like them anyway) or any kind of prep work. The perception I have is that they'll spend money to fix something not functioning but past that they feel that their profit margin is not high enough to justify the expense. I have noticed also that the manufacturers (in general) also seem to be spending less time in the pre delivery prep. I remember pianos showing up not really even needing full tunings. Not so anymore. PLEASE! Understand I am most definitely not singleing out any piano builders out there but rather unfairly lumping all of them together. These are just general perceptions of mine having done moderate dealer work for quite a few years now. I am anxious to hear your perceptions, suggestions, recommendations or furthur musings on this subject. I am NOT, however, interested in any flames as this post is not meant to offend anyone. That said have at it all!!!! Kindest regards, Greg Newell Greg and Mary Ellen Newell Greg's Piano Forte` Lakewood, Ohio 44107 gnewell@en.com
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