help

[Dean May]

Your expert opinion is one of your most valuable commodities. I realized
some time ago that people who made those kind of calls were looking to tap
into information that came at great cost to me and they wanted it for free.
Don't give valuations or recommendations over the phone. Tell them you offer
a pre-purchase inspection service. When would they like to make an
appointment? 

 

Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Farrell
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 7:13 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: help

 

Wim has some good suggestions. IMHO, it would depend on what your
recommendation consisted of. If it was a blanket positive recommendation "I
am aware of a nice very good condition Acrosonic....", then your
recommendation may have been faulty (maybe because as Wim pointed out, maybe
the movers dropped it). 

 

On the other hand, if you said something like what I try to say when asked:
"Yes, I have serviced Mrs. Xxx's Acrosonic several times. My recollection
from when I serviced it last - about xx months ago - was than it was a nice
little piano. However, not having done a thorough pre-purchase inspection at
that time, and more importantly, not recently, I wouldn't want to stake my
reputation on it's condition. I recommend that we give it a good inspection
prior to purchase." Or something along those lines. I try to make it clear
that it is likely a good piano and worth pursuit, but I am not willing to
vouch for its condition at this time without inspecting it. IMHO, doing
something along these lines keeps one in the clear - and in fact does the
potential buyer a favor.

 

If your recommendation was faulty - I guess you have to let your conscience
be your guide. To be honest, I'm not sure what I would do.

 

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 

 

A lady bought a little Acrosonic, made in the 70's on my recommendation. I'd
tuned it for about three years,and last time I saw the piano it was in
excellent condition.  So, today was first tuning for the new owner.   

I noticed the frame separating, what looked like a bit of plate separating
from the pin block, found sections horribly low- certainly too low to be
only a year since it was tuned.  C#3 I think, the lowest note on the treble
bridge sounds more like a thud than a note- kind of like a bridge
separation.   Since I recommended the piano, which was in excellent shape
when I last saw it, I feel somewhat responsible for these people not getting
what they paid for.

How would others of you handle this? 
thanks 
les bartlett

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080327/e5b9cdda/attachment.html