Piano Sales Forces...

[btrout@desupernet.net]

Hi All,

I'm wondering what others might think of the garbage so prevalently
spewed from the mouths of the piano 'sales forces' of America!  (What a
mouthful!)

Since I work for a dealer, I am often in the background, tuning away
while one of our 'illustrious' is selling his heart out regardless if
it's a S$S or a Chinese Chang.  It is absolutely amazing to me to listen
to these guys.  To listen to them talk, they've got engineering degrees
in acoustics and mechanics out the wazoo.  You name it, they have the
nice tidy answer.  (Even if it is totally untrue, or something that
belongs in "fantasyland".) There's an angle to everything, and no matter
what the polished turd happens to be, it's a "good value".  Oh, my head
hurts after listening to some of these 'pitches'.

It makes me wonder whether there are just plain regular people who sell
a good piano for a fair price without all the hype.  So many times, I
see someone being talked into a 'train wreck' of a piano, and everything
inside me says, "Warn these people about this!!!"  It's not so much the
particular piano.  I realize there are many levels of quality, and time
frames of usefulness, but I hear them promising the moon and stars out
of the Betsy Ross spinet, knowing full well, we can't do half of it.  I
hear them tout the clear resonate tone of the Steinway 1098, knowing
full well it's loaded with false strings, and will be a nightmare to
tune for any customer with a discriminating ear.

Is it society which demands all the hype?  Are the general public so
consumed with being "Sold" that the product doesn't really make a big
difference? (heaven forbid)

Sometimes I have trouble handling this.  But what is my rightful place?
I work for a dealer, at least for now.  But I am of the persuasion that
someday, I'll have to answer for those things I've done or not done,
said or not said.

Are all dealerships this way to a greater or lesser extent?  I've only
worked for one so I have no other comparable reference.

Actually, Newton, you're the one who got me thinking about this with
your post under Re:Factory Reconditioned Yamahas?   Perhaps we're not
the only ones!

If you've had some experiences, good or bad, and you'd like to share,
I'd be interested.

Brian Trout
Quarryville, Pa.