Cracked plate

[Todd Mapes]

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List,

This week I experienced my first cracked plate.  It's not an experience =
I would like to have again.  The piano was a Kimball console which, =
according to the customer, had not been tuned in 18 years by the =
previous owner.  The current owners had recently acquired it for $300 =
and wanted it tuned up so the wife could play Christmas music.  I opened =
the piano up and found a dead mouse and several mouse droppings (the =
mouse was mostly decayed), which, in my opinion shows that the piano =
hadn't been tuned recently and probably not played in several years, =
either.  I noticed no other problems besides a few broken Schwander butt =
springs, so I got out my SAT III and checked the pitch.  The piano was =
185-200 cents flat.  I did the first pitch raise with no overshoot and =
then checked pitch again.  The SAT III reading now was about 35-40 cents =
flat, so I programmed in a 25% overshoot and began tuning the piano at =
A0.  As I crossed the bass/tenor break, I heard a LOUD "bang" which was =
much louder than any string breakage I'd ever heard, so, fearing the =
worst, I got down under the keybed and looked at the plate.  The plate =
had cracked right through the hitch pin area.  The crack was all the way =
through the plate and I called the customer over and informed her of the =
plate breakage and that it was probably not feasible to repair the =
plate, and even if it was, there could be no guarantees of success on =
such a repair.  She understood that the piano was a complete loss, I =
collected a minimum service call fee and left.

Two days later, her husband calls me up demanding that I reimburse him =
for $300 or provide him with an acceptable replacement.  I informed him =
that I had no intention of doing so, because the plate cracked due to =
lack of structural integrity.  He informed me that his opinion was that =
the plate cracked due to my incompetence and/or negligence.  I then =
explained the pitch raise procedure that I performed and told him that =
to the best of my knowledge, I had exercised due professional care and =
was not responsible for the demise of his piano.  As a parting comment, =
the customer said he would just have to take me to small claims court =
and recover his money.  He could be bluffing, but then again, he seemed =
pretty adamant about collecting his $300.

So, that brings me to the questions - Have you or anyone you know been =
sued because of a cracked plate?  If so, how did you defend yourself in =
court and what was the ultimate outcome?

Todd L. Mapes
Associate Member PTG
Fort Smith, AR

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