This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Rob: Sounds like not only was the piano from hell, but so was the = customer. I hate unreasonable piano owners. However, if I have the = time, I'll take one on. By that I mean I look at the owner as a = challenge to educate and eventually win him/her over to my way of = thinking. When confronted by a piano from hell, and its obvious that it = should not be repaired, I make a list, the most important and expensive = things first. In this case your list was very long, but honestly = reflected the items needing attention. =20 Then by going down the list WITH the owner, explaining in detail = item by item what the instrument needs to make it usable, and why, the = customer will begin to realize (without you telling him) that it may be = a lost cause. But if you start out your analysis by saying "it is a = dead piano and there is nothing left to fix" you may encounter = resistance. =20 The idea is to let the customer's thinking flow into the obvious by = gently pointing out the many, many things the piano needs to bring it = back to good playability. Occasionally I'll use a quote from my mentor = Frank McKowen, RPT from Lansing, MI who said, "You deserve a better = piano." This sometimes enables the owner see the light. If all that you say falls on deaf ears, its time to pack up your = tools and say, "You know Mr. Pianist, I'm not sure I can handle this = job, its probably best to try another technician." Leave him with hope = that there may be an answer, and let another reinforce your findings. = Maybe that will head him in the right direction, you've done all you = can do. =20 Mike Kurta =20 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Rob Goodale=20 To: Pianotech=20 Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 11:54 AM Subject: Piano from Hell I had one of my worst experiences as a piano technician this morning. = I got a call from a guy who told me his piano needed tuning and repair. = I agreed to take the job. Upon arriving I about fell over. It turned out to be a 90 year old "Metropolitan" full upright. It was = the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen outside of a land fill. I = immediately started in how old the piano was and probably not worth = fixing but he quickly cut me off and in a heavy British accent told me = to "please fix it". The "thing" had been painted white. He was now in = the process of painting it gold which he proudly proclaimed was = "restoring the finish". Chunks of wood were missing out of the case. I = opened it to find that the action was not even screwed in place, just = laying in the piano. There was one broken treble string and the bass = strings were black with corrosion. There was a crack running under the bass bridge and the apron was = loose. There were broken bridal straps, broken hammers, and several = others that had been previously broken and reglued with string. most of = the hammer return springs were out of place and some were missing. One = sharp was missing, the key bushings were worn out, someone did a poor = job at recovering the keys, and the pivot pin on the sustain pedal had = been sheared off completely and the bushing block was shattered. He continued on about what a "great piano" it was as I looked at the = sad heap. I calmly explained that there was simply nothing left to fix, = the piano was dead and what he needed was a new piano. He came back = with "You Yanks, your all alike. You throw anything away. In England = we would never throw out a fine instrument like this!" Then he bragged = about how he KNEW what he was talking about because HE was a pianist! = (Oh golly silly me, I should have worshipped his feet on the spot!) = Then he proudly announced that he bought it from an auction so it MUST = be a good piano! (Now there's reasoning for you). I continued to explain that I was trying to save him money, that it = would cost him far more to repair than to replace it. He demanded to = know how much. I explained that it would cost hundreds just to make it = produce sound again and even then it would be nothing but trouble. "Oh = no I don't want to do all that, I just want it REPAIRED, you know, so = that it works"! (Excuse me didn't I just say that? Do we need = subtitles for this conversation?" I then explained that what the piano = really needed was a complete restoration and that would cost at least = $10,000.00. "I'm trying to save you money, this piano is NOT worth it, = you really should consider buying another piano". He again reminded me = that he was a pianist and that he knew this piano was worth it and that = it really didn't need that much work. Finally I just told him flat out = that I couldn't help him and that I really didn't have the time to spend = three days working on it. His disposition continued to get worse as I = made a hasty exit. Shame on me... after all this guy was a "pianist" and got it from an = auction so he MUST know what he's talking about! Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/4f/47/8f/49/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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