Choosing to Condemn

[Phil Bondi]

This past Saturday, I found myself 2 hrs. away from home looking at a
Fischer Grand that had been through a fire in the home, and standing water
in the piano from said fire for an estimated 2 days.

The action parts of the piano had gone to another technician who had them
for a total of 2 years, and then returned the parts to the woman with no
work done to them.

-hint#1

Consequently, upon arriving at her home, the first thing I noticed was the
case parts were completely apart. The action was completely disassembled,
and the rust on the wire was, let's just say, very rusty.

The piano was not involved with the 'contents' portion of the insurance
claim because there wasn't enough insurance to begin with.

-hint#2.

This woman wanted in the worst way for me to tell her that her piano, that
she has had since she was 15, was salvageable, while NOTHING else in the
house was salvageable from this fire.

well, we all know that it is possible to re-construct piano actions, and pin
blocks and wire are pretty common fare in our business, but when the
estimated cost of repairs FAR exceeds the estimated end value of the
instrument, that's where I draw the line. The only exception is when the
owner of said lost cause says that money is no object.

That was not the case here.

-Phil Bondi (Fl.)
tito@philbondi.com