[pianotech] Rodent Piano - Refuse to Service?

[Gerald Groot]

Gee, stinky poo hmmm?  The stench is one thing.  My dad always said, "you
can always wash your hands so don't be afraid to get dirty."  Well, dirty is
one thing, puking over it is quite another.  I have a very weak tummy.
Stinky baaaacky things make me gag quite easily.  So, for me, in this case?
Uh uhhhhh..  But, maybe I need to take a couple of my own Jer Groot pills
and get over it like John says!   <G>!    Yuck.  Making my tummy churn just
thinking about it.  Enough of that talk!  

 

If you do accept the job, I would most certainly charge more for the hassle
and smell of it all.  

 

 

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of John Formsma
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 7:28 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Rodent Piano - Refuse to Service?

 

Terry,

 

I generally don't worry too much about old urine and droppings. The
droppings get vacuumed up, and the hands get washed. I supposed it would
depend on how bad the house/situation was. Yeah, I'd refuse if need be. We
each have our tolerances.

 

There was one time I refused. I'd done service before for this old librarian
(an actual old maid). She had numerous cats. A cat had peed on a section of
treble strings, right at the hitch pins. They had all rusted and were
broken. It was nasty. There was some cat urine smell in the house, but I
figured maybe I could work through it and help the old lady out.  So I told
her I would come back at a later date to replace the section of strings. On
the drive home, I started having allergic reactions, though I'm allergic to
only a very few cats. So I called back and said I couldn't do the work. I
was actually glad for the allergies that time, as I didn't want to have to
tell her directly that her house smelled terrible and I really didn't want
to do the job. Shoulda had a backbone, but I didn't at that time. Perhaps I
need to take 2 Ger.Groot pills and get over it. :-)

 

--

JF

 

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 5:27 PM, Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
wrote:

Have any of your folks ever refused to work on a piano in someone's home
that had lots of rodent droppings and urine in it - all over the keys,
keybed, etc.

I have one that I looked at, had to order some parts (super minor things)
and told them I'd be back to repair and tune. I have been wanted to NOT do
that piano ever since. I wish to call her back and decline to do any work
(keys) on it - this thing is infested (not to mention the place smells like
an uncleaned 10,000-animal dog kennel). Lady seems nice enough.

This is the worst case I've ever run into. Am I nuts or am I thinking
reasonably?

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