RAVE: It gets worse "ONLY BECAUSE OF ASSHOLES LIKE YOU!!!

[Ron Nossaman]

>Which finally begs the point:  If Baldwin fails, is it the fault of the 
>product and management structure, or can we focus on the actual "nail" in 
>Baldwin's coffin, the dealer network that has relied on a venerable name like 
>'Baldwin' as a golden goose?  Many of these dealers have gotten soft and 
>lazy, forgetting who the most important person really is. 

In my little town, every dealer through the years that tried to make a
living selling primarily Baldwins has gone bankrupt. Those that sold
another names like Yamaha or Kawai survived, but always ended up dropping
Baldwin from their inventory. The floor prep, defect rate, and after sales
complaints and service cost them more than they felt the name was worth,
and certainly more than the income supported. 


> If it isn't the quality of the Baldwin 
>piano that is causing it's demise, it probably is the dealer network and 
>their attitude toward customers. 

Here, the dealers who went bankrupt, or eventually dropped the Baldwin
line, were trying to do it right. There have been some less than honorable
types too, but there are dealers like this selling every kind of piano
available. The product and floor planning seems to have been more the
culprit in this area.


Ron N