Newton, your statement that the dealer is not pleasant to deal with would be my first red flag to justify pulling the plug on the arrangement. The typical loan program should be a win-win situation for both parties involved, futhermore a violation of the contract provisions should get the attention of somebody in your purchasing department which will mean they will have the attorney general's office revoking their sales tax license within 24 hours, just kidding. We have 50 assorted pianos in our program which we do pay the initial freight cost on at the start of the cycle which is in August before the beginning of the fall semester. This is the only charge we pay for the entire year and some of us even get along with the dealer. The dealer pays all advertising and administrative costs involved with the spring sale and are given access to all current university mailing lists and past alumni addresses. Also a preview letter goes out to all 6000 employed faculty and staff members in the university. I wouldn't doubt that the first year sale probably set some kind of sales record for this type of event and the last couple of years have been also quite good. However, there is a limit and the wheels are now in motion by the development office to start a major fund raising campaign to purchase the inventory we need. The loan program here is unique in that we have Steinway grands, Baldwin grands and uprights, Kawai grands, and Charles Walter uprights so we have diversified the representation of brands involved. It is by the virtue of the local dealer that Steinway is involved and not by New York because the factory is not in the loan business. This tailored program has been a huge success for us and has contributed greatly to the satisfaction of faculty and students. The trade-off of constant tuning to having reliable actions and somewhat even voicing is a balance we are coping with but in the long run we would rather have our own inventory, however, if you can substantially raise the quality of your inventory overnight you will have served your school well, just make sure the dealer knows who is charge. Hope this helps. Brent.Fischer@ASU.EDU Arizona State University/Tempe
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