Warranty

[THEOFONE]

Hi David
           Sounds to me like this is a customer generated warranty. I
understand that you want to sell a good product at a fair price. (not too
cheap) But you could be opening up a can of worms. Essentially what your
willing to do is guarantee the piano against just about anything that can go
wrong. This doesnt seem fair to you. You must be a real gambler. Anyway  I
think a fair warranty would be to give him a free tuning, to warranty against
soundboard buzzes, NOT cracks, NOT plate breakage, NOT pinblock cracking or
separation, JUST pin torque say under 45 lbs(its not a new block) not knowing
what it is now, maybe give him 1 regulation at the end of a year, (provided
you regulated it before delivery) and this will be a touch up, NO bridge
cracks at all,(you cant prove it DOESNT affect tone, all the books say it
does) and to repair NOT replace broken action parts(at your discretion). You
could give him 3 free tunings (and increase the price accordingly) to see the
piano after delivery, at 6 mos and after 1 year for any adjustments to finish
the warranty. This to me,is reasonable and protects your integrety. You will
see the piano 3 times during that year, it will be tuned , sound good, you
should spend little time on adjustments, and work with the customer to enhance
his enjoyment of the instrument. This should satisfy him.
            The reason that I would not warranty anything else is that you
live in an earthquake prone area. A small quake could break the plate or do
some other damage that would NOT show up as something falling on it or some
other sign of abuse or neglect.Far fetched but possible. You didnt exclude
acts of God specifically. If he wants better have him by a new Steinway "B"
for $47,000 with a five year warranty. He wants you to take a piano thats
almost 4 times older than that warranty and have you give him 1/5 of that
warranty. Have you bought an 18 year old car recently with a 1 year warranty?
What kind of warranty would a local piano dealer give on this instrument? Be
fair to you, as well as to the customer.
                                                     Theodore Mamel RPT
                                                      Pittsburgh Chapter