----- Original Message ----- From: pryan2 <pryan2@the-beach.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: March 24, 2000 4:56 AM Subject: Shut my mouth > Question: How honest should we be when asked to evaluate an old piano? I > just feel that we are not doing them a service to agree with their misguided > logic. On the other hand, they really don't want to know the bad parts and > I don't want to lose a customer. Where is the middle road? > > Phil Ryan > Miami Beach -------------------------------------------------------- Be as diplomatically honest as possible. If you can agree that they 'got a good deal,' do so, while still pointing out the true condition of the piano and what it will take to get the piano into reasonable playing condition. I still painfully remember the situation in which I kept my mouth shut and later found that my silence was taken to mean agreement. The piano was later sold again, this time with the seller claiming that I had examined the piano and agreeing with him that it was a great instrument. It all got straightened out in the end -- more or less -- but I think it would have been much better if I had been more insistent on stating my professional opinion about the instrument in the first place. When I go to my doctor, I may not want to hear the truth but I depend on him to tell me I need to exercise more and lose more weight anyway. No matter how disconcerting, even if its more serious, I need to hear the truth. So does the piano owner. Especially one with children who may be subjected to the parents ill-informed purchase. Del
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