Liability advice

[Al & Jody Williams]

Jon, they paid $700 and of course it`s sitting in a $250,000 house and I had
to park on the street because of the 2 new cars filled up the driveway. I
was recommended to them by 2 different current customers and it just
*&^^**** me off that they  would call someone out of the yellow pages and
believe them over me. So I put it on  the list to get some outside
confirmation.Al
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Page <jpage@capecod.net>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Sunday, September 05, 1999 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: Liability advice


>Al,
>I have been tuning pianos for over 25 years and the only precaution
>I offer to a pitch raise is breaking strings and tuning instability.
>
>Structural damage such as this is a result of poor quality manufacturing,
>This is why the company is no longer in business. In my early years in the
>biz, I worked for a dealer who sold these wretched piano shaped objects.
>I would classify them as 'throw away pianos'.
>
>If they are looking for compensation, they should look to the seller for a
>rebate because chances are that they did not store this item in a 'safe'
>area or bought the cheapest thing they could find not regarding quality.
>
>Had they had the piano appraised/inspected before purchasing they would
>not be in this predicament.  You are not to blame for a series of bad
>decisions made previously.
>
>Another thought just crossed my mind and this is all too often the case:
>A piano is donated to the church for a tax write-off. Usually, the
theoretical
>market value is higher than actual worth so on paper everyone is happy.
>Many times the church finds out the piano was not worth the cost of the
move
>and does not have the resources to effect repairs, they get stuck.  So the
>decision to purchase on price alone may not have been the church's.
>
>I had one irate customer call the day after a tuning, a sticking key;
>my fault - right ?  She was even more livid when I had the gall to charge
>for a service call when I found a piece of cat litter stuck between the
keys.
>It seems kitty likes to sleep on the little pillow on the bass bridge of
the
>S&S M.
>
>So you customer has to accept their dilemma and maybe read the book:
>When Bad Things Happen To Good People".
>
>Jon Page
>
>PS  Can you say: trebuchet ?
>
>At 09:08 PM 09/04/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>> I have been a RPT for the past 19 years. Last week I tuned a new
customer`s
>> Grand spinet piano. They had bought it from their church where it had
>been in
>> storage for no one knew how long. I measured  pitch with my Sanderson and
>> found A4 15 cents flat of pitch, the treble 25 cents flat, and high
treble
>> almost 1/2 step flat. Minimal rust on strings and pins reasonably tight,
>so I
>> raised it to standard pitch , was paid, and left. A week later my
customer
>> calls complaining of a terrible buzz throughout the piano, so back I go
to
>> investigate. I found every single last rib had pulled away from the
>> soundboard on both ends. I had a good conversation  with the husband
>> explaining that this condition  is one of the pit falls of buying a used
>> instrument without having it inspected by a piano tech., and that normal
>> maintenance such as a pitch raise and tuning did not cause the problem.
>> Several days later the Lady of the house calls and explains that she has
>> spoken with another tech.-qualifications unknown- who told her that
before
>> any pitch raise the customer should be warned of the irreparable
structural
>> damage that can occur during a pitch raise.Since I did not give her fair
>> warning as to what could happen,  she feels that I am liable for the
damage
>> to her piano`s ribs. Her thinking is  that it worked fine before I tuned
it
>> and now it is broke. So what do you all think?  I plan to present her
with
>> all the responses I receive to this post and she can decide if I am
>liable, a
>> crook,a con artist or what ever.RPTs,give me your thoughts, privately if
you
>> like at ><mailto:bluefiddle@texoma.net>bluefiddle@texoma.net.< Thanks, Al
>> Williams.
>
>
>
>Jon Page,  Harwich Port,  Cape Cod,  Mass.  mailto:jpage@capecod.net
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>
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