Ethical quandry

[Jon Page]

If, at the time you recommended the dealer to the customer,
you were unaware of the forthcoming finder's fee; then you acted in
good faith. I have, in one case, where long time customer was
referred to a dealer for a specific piano they wanted, and not charged
them for finder's fee (customer service). And the dealer's finder's fee
was rebated to them in the form of a free tuning.

What I do call unethical are these so called 'piano brokers'. They
relish the 'double dipping'.    I have had advertised, quality pianos
at very fair prices. A few 'brokers' answered the ad and ultimately
would not refer if there weren't a 10-15% commission. (I don't leave
this margin in the asking price). They will refer to whomever will give
them highest commission. This indicates to me that they do not
have the best interest of their client in mind. The client is paying them
to find a piano.  People need to be warned about these slugs.

If there is that margin I will aquiesce to a maximun 5% commission.

One incident comes to mind where a piano teacher was brought to
the showroom to assist her student in the selection.   After the piano was
selected by the student and the teacher tried it, she brought the dealer
aside and said: "If you give me an artist's bench, I'll approve the sale".
Needless to say, the dealer was floored. But not wanting a $300.00 bench
to hold up a $13,000.00 sale, he agreed.  So here she was being paid by
her student and using extortion on the dealer.

When asked for a finder's fee, I usually ask if they go into a restaurant
and demand a free dinner because they told people to dine there,
or car dealership, barber, dentist, etc. . .
One restauranteur asked for a discount since I would be tuning once per
month. I said that I would give him the same discount he would give me
for dining there once per month.

Brokers could also be put under 'pet peeves'.


Jon Page
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
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