Thoughts on Warranties (was Re: Steinway defect)

[Vanderhoofven]

At 08:29 PM 11/13/02, Louis Verkoelen wrote:

>Hi list,
>
>I serviced a 1997 Steinway "L" yesterday and encountered a defect. The lower
>three tuning pins will not hold tension.
>Here is some backround. The owner bought 3 of these in 1997 for her 3
>houses.
>They have never been serviced.


Whoa!  Hang on a bit here.  Can you say that again?  Wow!  The pianos "have 
never been serviced" since 1997?  Wow!

Now that I have your attention, I think Steinway would be well within their 
rights to void the warranty because of lack of service. Most piano 
manufacturers warranties that I have seen include a section that discusses 
what will void the warranty.  Usually, lack of service, extremes in 
climate, and misuse and vandalism, etc. will void the warranty.  The 
warranty on the Steinway web page doesn't mention what will void the 
warranty.  Of course, with a customer who owns 3 "L"s, Steinway may bend 
over backwards to resolve this.

Now, we don't want to kick the customer while they are down, but neglect of 
a piano like this is uncalled for.  3 or 4 tunings per year X 5 years = 15 
or 20 tunings that were missed.  Also, the piano should have been voiced 
and regulated at least once in this time period.  When the customer blows 
off service like this, it is like driving 50,000 miles and never changing 
the oil in the Lexus or Porsche.

Now that you are taking care of the piano, you can encourage them to have 
the piano tuned 3 or 4 times per year as recommended by Steinway.

This is something that I have never seen discussed.  What responsibility 
does the piano owner have to maintain and service the piano to keep the 
warranty valid?  If the piano owner doesn't have any service done for 5 
years, will that void the warranty?  I would think so.  However, I don't 
represent any manufacturer, so don't take what I say as Gospel.

I know that representatives of some of the different piano manufacturers 
monitor and contribute to this list.  Perhaps the factory technicians could 
chime in here?  Warranties are typically pretty vague on this point, and 
perhaps some clarification would be in order?


>2. What is the warranty on this piano and who should I contact about it.

I think that Steinway only has a 5 year warranty.  So, if the warranty is 
still valid, time is running out on having this covered under warranty.

http://www.steinway.com/   - Steinway web page
http://www.steinway.com/technical/warranty.shtml   -  Steinway warranty

The web page has contact information for Steinway and Sons.  The piano 
owner should contact Steinway.  You may wish to assist the customer in 
resolving this issue and you may wish to contact Steinway on their behalf, 
but you could put yourself in the middle of something that you will regret 
later.  It is the customers responsibility to find out about the warranty 
and to contact Steinway regarding warranty repairs.  (Of course this is 
just my opinion.)  If you get involved in this, make sure you keep very 
detailed records of every letter and phone call you make, and bill for all 
of your time.

>3. Short of a new pinblock, are there other solutions that would be
>appropriate for this caliber of piano.

Call Steinway and discuss this problem with them before doing any repair to 
the piano.  The factory techs at Steinway can give you their suggestions on 
what to do.  I would suggest oversized tuning pins or plugging and 
redrilling the pinblock.

>4. The other 2 pianos are in N. San Diego county. Is there anybody on the
>list that covers this area and can service her other pianos? I am somewhat
>concered that these pianos may have a similar problem and I would like to
>make sure they don't.

Steinway can provide a list of dealers nearby who can provide competent 
service.

>Thanks in advance
>
>Louis Verkoelen
>PTG Associate
>Big Bear City, CA

Welcome to the list.  I hope this is helpful.  Good luck!

David Vanderhoofven
Joplin, MO