----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@KSCABLE.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: September 08, 2001 7:23 AM Subject: Re: Killer Octave - Warranty Issue? > I don't usually point out bad soundboards unless the customer has a voicing > complaint or the problem is DRAMATIC. There are just too many of them. In > this case, maybe you should at least ask the customer if it bothers him. If > you pursue it, have the customer go through channels and contact the > manufacturer yourself as well. The first thing you will learn is that in > the entire history of the company, no one has ever contacted them with a > soundboard complaint. Why on earth would you think it's the soundboard? Who > told you that? Are you sure you're a real tech? It must be voicing. Offer > to voice it, regulate it, tighten plate bolts, polish bridge pins, or any > other of the long list of things that it surely is besides the soundboard. > Take days at it, be extremely meticulous, and charge them your full rate > for everything you do. Report back, no fix, then stand aside while they > truck in at least one other tech from at least 200 miles away so do the > same thing. Since you did such a good job fixing all the things that > weren't the cause of the problem, the other guy will not find much to do, > but will manage to spend a day at it anyway because that's what he was > hired to do. The imported tech(s) may or may not report the problem solved, > but the customer needs to report to whoever they are dealing with in the > system after each attempt to keep the process going. Eventually, the > manufacturers will tire of throwing money at this wholly mysterious problem > with this apparently unreasonable customer with the tech from Hell and > replace the piano. This one will, you bet your great aunt Aphasia, go > directly to some dealer's showroom floor and be sold to someone else who > will probably never notice the killer octave. That's not a problem though, > because three expert technicians have gone over the piano thoroughly (at > great expense to the company, mind you, thus establishing their good > intentions) and fixed everything that was wrong with it. The replacement > may be fine, in which case you win. Or it may have the same problem, even > after having been worked on by three highly paid expert technicians in > another state. > > In the past, I have tried to save everyone time and money by declining to > try to fix bad soundboards with voicing, bearing adjustments, and > regulation. The money was spent anyway, I never got compensated for time I > had in the process trying to help the customer, and never got any > acknowledgement whatsoever for my efforts. My current thinking is that if > you aren't willing to give away your time and knowledge on killer octave > soundboard problems, you have to be part of the problem and take the money > the manufacturers insist on spending on what you have already determined is > not the problem. If you live to be a thousand, you'll never win, but you > can't live to be a thousand if you don't eat. Giving a manufacturer a break > doesn't educate them either, unless they are among the few that are > interested in their product already. > > That's not a consensus, but it is an opinion. > ----------------------------------------------------------------- And it sounds suspiciously like one formed based on personal experience. It also sounds like little changes over the years--I could easily have written the same piece 30 years ago (except I don't write as well). Del
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