Greg: The manufacturer must stand behind the warranty through the current dealer in your area. If you are the authorized technician for that brand, you can get permission to do the work and get paid by the manufacturer. Since they refused, the only thing you can do is to ask your customer if they can pay for the needed regulation and repairs. That is, if the current dealer won't pay you to do it. I suspect in your situation, your client may have to sell the piano if he/she doesn't like it, and doesn't want to pay for the needed work. Another thing is that moisture related problems don't come under the warranty, such as tight flanges, sticky keys, etc. I don't know if this is your case or not. At the store where I work, some of the pianos we sell could use more careful regulation, but their price and profit margins don't warrant a lot of time spent on them. If they work ok, then we send them out. Not so for the S&S's. We pay for contract technicians for them. Warranty work is sometimes a grey area. We like to give the customer the benefit of the doubt. The return for the extra we give the customer is referrals for new business. We enjoy a good reputation, and we are known for our good service. The owner of the store that you work(ed) for didn't understand the value of customer service and good referrals for repeat business. Music circles are very tight, and the word gets around when the service after the sale is rotten. But if the problem is due to circumstances which surround the piano, ie. moving, spilling something inside, etc., then the customer has to pay. I hope this helps. Good luck. Paul McCloud, RPT San Diego, CA
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