List, I've stewed about a situation for awhile, now I'd like some help in making a decision, if any of you are willing to post an opinion. A Samick grand I take care of for a private client has bad knuckles. In the past couple of years I have replaced several sets of knuckles all under warranty and all authorized and paid for by Samick. No real problem, unless you consider the paltry sum paid to me for the amount of work done, but in some ways that's another story. This time I was told that if the bill exceeds $160.00, Samick would pick up the piano from a local dealer who sells Samicks (not the original dealer, by the way) at their convenience, transport the piano to their warehouse facility in California and do the replacement and regulation necessary there. All, I was told by a Rich Austin, at the total cost to Samick of $80.00 transport cost each way. Needless to say the customer would have to foot the bill for transport to the dealer's facilities which in this case would be about $175.00 each way. (Gee, I wonder if the piano might go out of tune somewhere along the way?) So far I have not relayed this information to my customer. I have mixed feelings about the situation and I'm sure all of you good people can see many of the ramifications involved. Not the least of which I feel is the potential loss of credibility as a qualified technician to do what I consider very minor work. However, the Samick warranty does specify that at its option any warranty work may be done at a facility of their choice, which may indeed be a Samick facility. Yesterday I learned that a fellow tech here in this area (Seattle) had exactly this same situation occur. The customer is furious with Samick and had the local technician do the work at the customer's expense. The technician was as generous as he could be, but I am sure the total bill was more than Samick ever would agree to, which as stated above is only, and forever, going to be $160.00 maximum. Comments please. Joseph Alkana RPT
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC