This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Kinda reminds me of all the U-Haul trucks you see broken down on the = highway. They all have "An Adventure in Moving" written on them. I like a challenge, too, and in one case I ended up making some big = bucks completely rebuilding/restoring a 1906 Hamilton Upright for a Bed = & Breakfast setting. The customer refinished it, I got her decals from = "Decals Unlimited" and the whole project turned out wonderfully. On the other hand, the piano you quoted my comments on was a fictional = overdamper sitting in an unheated/uncooled garage in New Orleans for 40 = years. I might, in such a case, tell the caller that I would charge a = service call fee if we didn't end up tuning/repairing it. I actually had = a customer who had stored a piano in New Orleans as I described but it = was an old Gulbransen spinet. ALL of the flanges and whippen elbows were = made of that old plastic that crumbles to dust. Oddly, because it was = "Mom's Piano" they paid me to replace all the flanges and elbows and I = now tune it every six months--even though the piano certainly did not = have enough resale value to justify the expense. I think it does make sense to see questionable pianos (with the "service = call fee" speech) because you never know, as these two stories tell. = Also, they may get a better piano and you get a new customer later, etc. = Or a referral. It pays to be honest. But sometimes you can be too honest, I think. = Specifically: I've had a couple of occasions when I pointed out = deficiencies in pianos that the customer obviously did not want to hear! = People have all kinds of ways they assign "value" to their pianos, so I = guess we have to feel that out before we recommend, as I once did, that = they push the piano into their pond for fish-breeding cover. I can still = see the shocked, pained look on that lady's face ... all of her kids had = practiced on that piano as they grew up, you see ... ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Clyde Hollinger=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 6:44 AM Subject: When it's probably shot Friends,=20 Do any of you condemn a piano without ever seeing it? There are times = when I feel like I probably should, but the client is looking for some = professional input and hopefully a miracle.=20 I got a call. A large family (eight kids) has a piano that was given = to them four years ago. It sounds tinny, some of the keys don't work, = and the former owner told them it can't be tuned to standard pitch. The = kids are taking lessons. Money may very well be tight; I didn't ask. = Such service calls can be an adventure, to say the least! Thoughts?=20 Regards, Clyde=20 "Alan R. Barnard" wrote:=20 Someone buys it for $100 (silly sap) calls you to come and tune it. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/ec/3d/7c/e2/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC