Can someone help me out with what the tech should say in this case? I would have a hard time saying, "Gee, see this cheap plastic? It broke. It's not my fault, and I'm not fixing it. But you can pay me $40, and now your piano doesn't work. See ya!" Is that pretty much what you have to say, but in a way that makes the customer happy? Seriously, I'm really scared of a situation like this, especially if I'm not armed with a way to handle it. Thanks, Charles Neuman PTG Assoc, Long Island > Tvak@aol.com wrote:=20 > > To all=20 > Today I taught myself a couple of lessons. First of all, I will = > never break the following rule ever again:=20 > > Don't ever...ever....even TOUCH a plastic flange unless it is glued = > to the doorknob of the exit door and even only then if there's no other = > way out.=20 > > I replaced a set of elbows today. I knew that it had plastic wippen = > flanges. Why was I so careless snapping that first elbow in place? The = > price? Removal of the spinet action to replace the cracked plastic = > wippen flange.=20 > > The other 87 elbows snap in place with no further problem due to = > extreme care on my part. Adjust the lost motion and...play the piano. = > Hmmm...the hammer on middle C is double striking. I'll just move the = > backcheck forward and... (What was I thinking...?)=20 > > Out comes the spinet action to replace the newly broken plastic = > wippen flange. While replacing the wippen flange I brush against a = > damper lever and...now I can replace the plastic damper flange on that = > damper lever and... the one next to it which I also bumped into with the = > screwdriver.=20 > > Back goes the action and as I play the piano I realize that the = > damper lever on D5 is not damping due to it's also being cracked. (I = > did look at them all while they were out of the piano, but it was not = > visually apparent.) Now, I was nowhere near D5 so I wonder if this was = > a pre-existing problem, which leads me to the next lesson I learned:=20 > > Check the piano first to see if there are any problems.=20 > > BTW, my original service call on this piano was 6 months ago at = > which time I replaced 4 elbows and informed the client of the existence = > of all the plastic flanges, and the costs involved in replacing them. I = > advised him NOT to put any money into this Lester spinet, other than = > replacing those 4 elbows that had already broken. Six months later he = > called to tell me to go ahead with the elbows. In the back of my mind = > I was thinking, wasn't this the piano with all the plastic flanges? But = > rather than say anything, I just went ahead and made the appointment. = > Which leads me to the last lesson for the day:=20 > > Take better notes on each piano for future reference.=20 > > I rarely share my experiences with others on the list. Hope this = > was worth reading...=20 > > Tom Sivak >
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