warranties

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi Ralph,

Sorry, I can't say for sure which manufacturer you're remembering here, but
it really doesn't matter. You can have similar fun with today's instruments.
If (any of) you do any dealer work, check this out. When tuning new
verticals (mostly, but it happens with grands too), keep an ear peeled for
that horrible distorted mutant flat board sound in the upper tenor. When,
not "if" you hear it, go behind/under and check the crown in that area with
your string. You will find an extraordinary number of 1/16"+ negative crowns
in certain manufacturers' products. That's on delivery! I guarantee, not
warranty, that they won't get better after purchase. When brought to the
attention of the manufacturer, they want you to "voice" it away or otherwise
talk the customer out of hearing it. Talk about long needles and
misdirection! When half the pianos from one manufacturer come in this way, I
wonder if this is representative of their line, or if my area gets the
"culls" returned from higher volume dealers and recycled to the midwest.
After all, Sam Kinneson [sp] claimed this was called the "Heartland" because
the BRAIN isn't here, so maybe we're not expected to notice. The average
customer who buys one of these things probably won't know the difference,
but some of them do, and complain about the sound. Those that don't notice,
aren't told. There is little point in looking for trouble, he says, as he
writes this, but the problem remains. Is anyone else cursed by this problem,
or is it just me? Maybe I'm just being too picky in expecting new pianos to
meet minimal structural requirements and the manufacturers to make an honest
attempt to ensure that they do.


EndRant: Ron

At 11:13 PM 12/19/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Del and List
>Possibly Del or some of the older folks on this list may remember a
>particular piano manufacturer around the 50's or early 60's that
>warranted their SB for a specific length of time. ( 10 or 20 years) I
>knew a dealer who sold quite a few of them that cracked and even lost
>their crown in five years. 
>
>When the dealer contacted the manufacturer he was told to please read the
>fine print in the warranty. It stated that any defective pianos had to be
>shipped back to the factory in "THEIR ORIGINAL FACTORY CRATE" the dealer
>was further informed that , although the SB was warranted, it was NOT
>GUARANTEED. Therefore the dealer or customer would also have to absorb
>the cost of installation as well as the cost of shipping both ways.
>
>Don't remember who they were at this point in time but remember vividly
>the uselessness of the warranty.
>
>How 'bout them apples?
>
>Ralph Martin 
>


 Ron Nossaman