Pre-Purchase Inspection Liability

[Farrell]

I had a near collision with a pre-purchase inspection I did 2-1/2 years ago
yesterday. I'm wondering what other's experience has been and whether you
folks take any special precautions to reduce your liability.

My client bought a 1920 George Steck 5' 6" grand in 1998 for $2500. The
piano is all original except for the keytops and black lacquer finish.
Everything functioned, but no better than any other non-maintained 80 year
old piano. At the time I told him that nothing appeared broken on the piano,
but that it needed (at a minimum) a full action refurbishing to make it work
acceptably for a young student.

They bought the piano and a week later I did a pitch raise and tuning. After
2-1/2 years and four reminder cards, I guess they figured the piano should
be tuned again. So I tuned it yesterday. While tuning, I noticed that the
dip was way shallow (averaging about 5/16"), hammers were missing strings,
dampers were leaking BIG time, etc. Mom mentioned that the daughter/student
said that the piano did not play right - it did not play like the teacher's.
No doubt. Then she told me that her daughter has been taking lessons for ten
years, is very serious about the piano, and will likely continue for years
to come! So then I immediately launched into my lecture about the
performance one can expect from an non-maintained 80 year old piano (can you
say zip?). And I talked about either sinking a few thousand into their piano
and end up with something that is still not all that great, or look for a
new/newer piano that will better meet their daughter's needs.

What I did not realize at the time (but I sure did after DAD got home and
joined in the conversation), was that I was telling them that they had a bad
piano, even though two years ago "I told them it was a good piano". My
recollection of the inspection day was that I told them it needed some work
to function properly, there were no major problems with the piano (except
for 80 years worth of wear), and that $2500 was a fair market value for the
instrument. He indicated that he did not want to spend more than that
amount. I'm not really sure what else I might have said at that time
regarding how appropriate the instrument was for a student. I know that
today, I would address that topic in detail.

Anyway, I think the awkward situation is clear. In their mind I "recommended
the piano", and in my mind I told them that $2500 was a fair market value
for the instrument, that there were no major problems with the piano, and
that they really need to spend around $1,500 to make the piano function at a
minimally acceptable level. Take this situation just one step further and
you could find somebody suing someone else.

It seems to me that a written report would be required to minimize such
situations from arising. I hate written reports. I would have to up my
inspection fee. How do you'all address this potential danger?

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com