Self Destructing Piano - Conclusion

Dave Bunch pdtek@mchsi.com
Mon, 3 Feb 2003 18:15:19 -0600


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Well, for those interested, I was back with the customer whose piano =
went horribly out of tune over night. (For anyone not remembering the =
story, I pasted it at the bottom).

Playing up the keyboard, it sounded just as bad as it did over the =
phone. Since the tone was fairly consistant, I ruled out bridge problems =
and removed the bottom panel to confirm my worst fear. Broken plate. =
There was a crack through the width of the plate strut that separates =
the treble section, just below the shelf tab that supports the action. =
The crack was gaping slightly and was about 1 1/4 inches deep into the =
strut. Since the piano sounded great after tuning and for the rest of =
the evening, it must have given way during the night.

Both the husband a wife were home. I showed them the crack and explained =
how it was probably either defective or weakened with age, possibly even =
damaged during the move and that the pitch raise and tune was more than =
it could take. Since the piano had been worth about $700, I advised them =
to look for another piano. They were very understanding and at no time =
during our conversation even hinted at the possibility that I was in any =
way responsible for the damage. Nor did they ask for a refund on the =
tuning and pitch raise fee. In fact, when I was leaving today, she pulls =
out her check book to pay me for the bad news. Technically speaking, =
since none of this was my fault I could justify charges at each visit =
but this one I declined. I also told them that I would be glad to help =
them find a replacement. These customers I want to hang on to.

Dave Bunch

>Well, in twenty years this is a new one for me. Yesterday I did a 1/4 =
step pitch raise and tune on a Kimball "spinsole" that a >couple had =
just moved here (Des Moines) from California. Nothing appeared out of =
the ordinary and everything went just fine. >When I was done they loved =
how much better it sounded and considering the piano, I thought it came =
out better than >expected. Today I get a call from them that the piano =
sounded great yesterday, but when they played it this morning, it =
>sounded so out of tune that they thought that they were playing the =
wrong keys. I thought she was exagerating until I had her >play it over =
the phone. It is clear that something catastrophic occured during the =
night. Either a broken plate or bridge, I would >say. I'm going over in =
a few days to see whats going on. They seem like nice folks but I got to =
wondering if they are going to >blame this on me. While bringing it up =
to pitch may have pushed something over the edge, everything I did was =
standard >procedure. Has anyone been charged with piano slaughter? I'm =
trying to think of how to put the best spin on a bad >situation. Dave =
Bunch

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