Hi Lance -- It's a shame that so many dealers are more interested in their bottom lines than they are with customer satisfaction. Observations aside for now ... I too do a lot of dealer work, particularly the courtesy calls that come with the purchase of the piano. First of all, I try to find out from the customer whether or not they have any questions about the piano -- how it plays in addition to how it sounds. Then, when I get there I will ascertain the situation as quickly as possible. If the problems are mild and the correction quick, then I just might go ahead and do them in addition to the tuning. If the problems are more severe, as in an obviously unprepped piano and the customer has questions, then I'll tell the customer that I will try to seek authorization from the dealer to go ahead with the prepping and set another appointment in which to do that. The space between the appointments allows me the time to find out what the conditions of the sale were (it has happened that the customer paid rock-bottom no-frills and is entitled to nothing more than the piano taken out of its crate, delivered to the home, and tuned) and to seek the necessary authorization, depending on the sale. ZR! RPT Ann Arbor MI diskladame@provide.net ---------- > From: Lance Lafargue <lafargue@iAmerica.net> > To: Pianotech Listserve <pianotech@ptg.org> > Subject: Dealer/Tech. relations revisited > Date: Friday, September 19, 1997 11:39 AM > > Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but...... I'm trained to do dealer prep > for a very nice brand of piano. I go to the dealer and notice dealer prep > is not being done. One piano sounds dramatically different from another > due to string voicing, hammer voicing, tuning, and is not evenly regulated. > My customer buys one. I see what the piano needs, the owner does not. Do > I say anything to the owner, dealer, manufacturer? I work for the dealer > on warranty tuning and service calls in my area, but do not do dealer prep > for them and don't want to make waves. I'm committed however to being > honest with the owner of the piano. The customer I've mentioned will > probably notice most of the things I notice now as he play it over time > (was very sensitive with his previous instrument). Do I say anything to > anybody?? This is happening consistently. > Lance Lafargue, RPT > New Orleans Chapter > Covington, LA. > lafargue@iamerica.net
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