who's responsible?

David Ilvedson ilvey@sbcglobal.net
Thu, 15 Dec 2005 17:03:28 -0800


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Which is why I"m slowing down and thinking about what sh** can happen b=
efore it happens...disclaimers!!!!   I try to always say something like=
:  "I don't know if moving the piano will scratch the floor, Mrs. Jones=
"....etc, etc., 

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, California





Original message
From: "Mark Potter" 
To: Pianotech 
Received: 12/15/2005 5:07:32 AM
Subject: Re: who's responsible?


Bottom line, Terry, as hard as it is to swallow, is that if you hadn't =
left the music desk out, this would not have happened.  Ergo, fault.  A=
 similar thing happened to me about 5 years ago with an unknown broken =
caster and a nice wood floor.  No way I could know it was poised and re=
ady for destruction when I went to move the piano away from the wall.  =

S-c-r-a-t-c-h....ouch!
 
And sorry, but the refrigerator analogy doesn't hold well for me.  Virt=
ually every owner of a frig has to take out the shelves from time to ti=
me, but for what reason would a piano owner remove their music desk fro=
m time to time?  I would venture to guess that less than 1% of my clien=
tele in 28 years has ever removed their music desk.  
 
Susan's right.  Fix it and get it behind you.  
 
It's a jungle out there....
 
! 
Mark Potter

pianolover 88 <pianolover88@hotmail.com> wrote:
Ok, here is what I feelis a good analogy. A refrigerator repairman has =
spent 
a few hours servicing a fridge, cleaning out the motor compartment, 
installing a new compressor,etc. He removes all the glass shelves from =
the 
inside (the food had already been removed by the owner, who is not 
home...same scenario) so he can fix a bad connection in the light switc=
h. He 
puts everything back together, except a glass shelf; simply an oversigh=
t. 
Later, the housekeeper spots it and decides to put it back inside the 
fridge. Even later the owner comes home, opens the fridge and the glass=
 
shelf, having not been put properly on the tracks, comes crashing down =
and 
shatters into a million pieces! Who's fault is that??? SAME THING. A mu=
sic 
desk on a grand is COMMONLY ! removed and replaced by piano owners, as =
is a 
fridge shelf. I just don't see how I can be responsible for the 
housekeeper's actions. Again, if there was ANY question as to putting i=
t 
back CORRECTLY, they could have simply called me, but the housekeeper t=
ook 
it upon herself to "wedge" the desk under the top lid apparently just t=
o get 
it off the floor! Don't you think she should have at LEAST informed the=
 
owner that MAYBE she did not put it in the right way, and to MAYBE be 
cautious when opening the lid???? Does she bare ZERO responsibility?


Terry Peterson



----Original Message Follows----
From: Greg Newell 
Reply-To: Pianotech 
To: Pianotech 
Subject: Re: who's responsible?
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:13:43 -0500


My thoughts are, Yes, you are responsible. Too bad it worked out this w=
ay 
but that's what insurance is for.

Greg Newell

At 12:25 AM 12/15/2005, you wrote:
>Inadvertantly forgot to replace customer's music desk in her Weber gra=
nd. 
>I'd been there for about 3 1/2 hours doing a major "technical" cleanin=
g, 
>big pitch raise, tuning, and finally made a pattern for a custom strin=
g 
>cover, which I sold during the visit. The customer had to leave just a=
fter 
>I got started, but her housekeeper was there for the duration of my vi=
sit. 
>Upon completion, I closed the lid and flyleaf and played a couple piec=
es on 
>the piano, enjoying what I felt was job well done. At just about this =
time 
>I received a call on my cell. I told the caller that I would call her =
back 
>in a few moments, then proceeded to pack my tools and move on to the n=
ext 
>job.
>
>As stated in the outset, I forgot to replace the music desk, (a first =
for 
>me, but hardly the end of the world, right?) which I had placed out of=
 
>eyeshot, under the tail sec! tion of the piano. While speaking on the =
phone 
>several hours later to the customer from my home, informing her when h=
er 
>new string cover would be ready, I heard a loud crashing sound, which =
she 
>told me, to her shock, was the music desk falling OUT OF THE PIANO, 
>resulting in some case damage to the piano! She told me that the music=
 desk 
>appeared to have been "sitting just inside the piano under the top lid=
 but 
>apparently NOT installed properly". She said that when she tried to li=
fit 
>the music desk UP it crashed to the ground, hitting the piano in a cou=
ple 
>areas causing the damage.
>
>Here is what MUST have happened: After I left, the housekeeper noticed=
 the 
>music desk was still on the floor, and attempted to put it inside the =

>piano, but did not slide it onto the tracks! When the customer returne=
d 
>home that evening, she lifted the flyleaf back, then lifted the desk 
>upward, and ! that's when the accident occured.
>
>Yes, I left the desk out in my haste, But am I responsible for the 
>Houskeeper's actions? My feeling is that if they would have called me =

>FIRST, I would have made the short trip(less than 10 minutes) back to =

>reinstall it---no harm done, case closed.
>
>Any thought? Thanks all!
>
>Terry Peterson
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives

Greg Newell
Greg's piano Fort=E9
mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net

_______________________________________________
pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


_______________________________________________
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