We have an Australian piano company that offers a lifetime warranty on their pianos but the owner has to get the piano tuned by one of their recommended tuners at least once a year. Do Young Chang have a condition similar to that in their warrantys?
Regards,
Alastair McLean
David Lawson's Pianos
Australia.
----- Original Message -----
From: Encore Pianos
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 6:04 AM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Young Chang
Thank you. One caveat: YC’s warrantees have varied somewhat over the years, so whatever the warrantee originally given at the time of purchase would be the one that would be operative, both in terms of length of the warranty, and limitations and exclusions. That may or may not be relevant to the time period of the pianos with the action bracket problems. Of course, if Young Chang chooses to go beyond the warranty of a given time, that is their option.
Will
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul McCloud
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 3:42 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Young Chang
Hi, Will:
I'm mot at home now, but somewhere I have a hard copy of the warrantee, where the exact wording says 12 years, but also says the action parts have a lifetime warrantee to the original purchaser. Oops! I'll dig it up when I return from vacation on the 31st.
Paul McCloud
AccuronePianoService.com
On Jul 25, 2012, at 10:33 AM, "Encore Pianos" <encorepianos at metrocast.net> wrote:
Paul:
This is the first I have heard of a lifetime warranty on the actions of Young Chang pianos. I was a Young Chang dealer for about 4 years until 2002. At that time, their warranties were 12 years (if memory serves me, I can’t find any literature left over from that time). Virtually all piano manufacturer warranties are specific and limited, detailing what is covered and usually what is not. Young Chang and others would warranty parts and defects of manufacture, but not things like regulation and voicing. Of course, growing action brackets are obviously a manufacturing defect, and were covered by Young Chang’s warranty. But I have always assumed that the warranty was binding only to the expiration of the warranty given on the piano at the time of manufacture, and was not something that Young Chang was legally bound to continue to do once the warranty expired. I’ve done a few of these, the brackets were provided for free, and all the pianos were outside warranty. I have never had to pay for parts and was always reimbursed for labor, though the amount of compensation has been reduced over time.
I looked on Young Chang’s website and a few other places, but have been unable to find anything on this. So I ask: On what do you base your claim that there is a life time warranty on the actions of “these pianos”? What specifically do you mean by “these pianos”? Since it is a written guarantee, in exact wording, what are the limitations and exclusions of this warranty, along with what is specifically covered? Where could I find a copy of this warranty?
About 3 weeks ago, I cleaned out my file cabinets and did a major dumpster dump, this included all my old Young Chang stuff. I knew I should have never thrown anything away!
Will Truitt
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul McCloud
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 1:01 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Young Chang
Will:
The fact is that YC has a Lifetime Warranty on the actions of these pianos. It is a written guarantee. They have neglected to inform their customers, and they should have had a recall. Customers should not have to pay for the defective parts. There was a time when they charged $100 for a set of brackets and paid nothing to install.
At least they changed that policy, to their credit.
Paul McCloud
AccuronePianoService.com
On Jul 24, 2012, at 8:33 PM, paul bruesch <paul at bruesch.net> wrote:
I completely agree, and I always make it a point to point that out to any YC owner.
On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 12:14 PM, Encore Pianos <encorepianos at metrocast.net> wrote:
I think we should all remember that all of the affected pianos are way
beyond warranty and have been for quite some time, yet Young Chang has
continued taking care of these pianos, albeit at a reduced rate of
compensation to the customer and technician. At this point in time, it is
up to the customer to pick up the slack for the amount of time required to
do this service.
We should all also remember that, while Young Chang is ultimately
responsible, the problems were caused when a subcontractor who cast the
brackets for Young Chang changed their formulation for the metals without
telling Young Chang. It was several years before problems began to develop
and they could catch the problem.
I say that Young Chang has handled this in a manner that is completely
honorable, and certainly to a higher standard of business ethics than we
could expect from almost anyone else.
Will Truitt
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Douglas Gregg
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 12:26 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Young Chang
Young Chang is still around. But be aware that they will pay a maximum of
$200 for the warranty job. I just had one that took two trips to just get
the action out. I had to go home to get some pry bars and break the middle
action brackets to get it out. It really needed some serious regulation too.
This piano was only played a few times and was otherwise like new.
It should not have needed regulation due to wear and tear, but that is their
maximum payment.
Doug Gregg
Classic Piano Doc
Southold, NY
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