Yamaha Loaners

[Avery Todd]

List,

John Minor wrote:
>        Anyone else having problems with their Yamaha Loan/Lease pianos?
>We are waiting to see if they are still coming this year. Anyone else?

Steve Brady wrote:
>        Yes, we had this problem last year--ended up getting most of our
>pianos about a month after school started. We were assured that *this*
>year they would replace the pianos at the time of the sale (3 weeks ago).
>We are missing pianos at this time, and the pianos we do have are all
>P22s, supposedly just until the grands arrive. I have an uneasy feeling
>about this.

and Newton Hunt wrote:

>   We had some problems with the Yamaha dealer and Kawai jumped in to help
>us >with new instruments.

   Do I detect a trend here? Our local Yamaha dealer has mentioned that
Yamaha would be interested in doing a large "placement" here if we would
eliminate the Kawai's we are currently using (currently 11 grands & 6
verticals).
   No matter one's opinion of the merits, or lack thereof, between the two
pianos, it seems to me the decision should be influenced by how the dealer
handles everything: replacements when promised, support if/when needed
during the year, etc.
   I personally tend to prefer Yamaha, based on past experiences with the
two brands. But our local Kawai dealer has bent over backward to help us
out several times when we have needed something extra during the year: a
replacement 9' while our Steinway D was being rebuilt, an extra GS-70 for a
piano teachers' studio (some of whose students had begged me to try and get
her to replace one of her 2 older Bosendorfers with one of the lease
pianos). The teacher and the students love it.
   Of course, I realize that he's doing it primarily hoping for quite a few
sales when we move into our new building next year. But, would/could the
Yamaha dealer have done the same? Unfortunately, you would probably never
know until the need arose!
   Sorry I got off the subject a little, but it's been on my mind lately
because we will probably be trying to increase the number of lease pianos
for the new building.

Avery

_____________________________________
Avery Todd, RPT
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4893
713-743-3226
atodd@uh.edu
_____________________________________