Mike You will have to repin the action, otherwise you will be coming back time after time to fix a few at a time. This isn't your problem. The customer saved a lot of $ on an inexpensive instrument and it's time to pay the piper. David I. On 6 Jan 2003 at 10:24, Mike McCoy wrote: > > Well, I went back out there this weekend because the son had a > performance coming up and couldn't practice. This time it was 6 very > slow jacks and the only thing that helped was pulling the pins and > running a Mannino burnisher through the bushings. The pin plating > looked fine under a magnifier. Also, almost all of the hammer flanges > are slow again to the point that I had to do the same with a few of > the worst offenders, and these had Protek treatments a number of times > previously, I wasn't about to do all of them until someone agrees to > pay but I felt better about doing the right thing for the customer. No > one was home at Samick when I called. Talked to the salesman again and > he informed me that Samick has nothing to do with it, when Altenburg > puts their name on it they assume the warranty supposedly. He told me > that when they send in their "special techs" they sometimes will lay a > heater bar on the action for a few days then sell and install a > Dampp-Chaser system and that takes care of the problem.... and I > thought I was a special Tech! So it was clear to me that I would not > be called to go back there again and I'm not likely to be paid, that I > can deal with but I'm concerned about what is really going on with > this action. Does any of this make sense??? > > Thanks! > > Mike > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Nichols > To: Mike McCoy ; Pianotech > Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 9:03 PM > Subject: Re: Altenburg/Samick Grand action problems > > Mike, > There is a temporary deadlock, for sure, but one of the things you > need to watch for is the > mistaken assumption about who is responsible for the warranty. There > are as many different "dealer agreements" between suppliers and > dealers as there are brand names. Maybe more. > > Give an estimate, or not, of the cost of repairing defects, and > advise the customer to seek > satisfaction from the dealer. The customer may need to get legal or > semi-legal assistance. State attorney general down to local Chamber, > BBB, or Arbitration board. Don't do any more work without a solid > assurance of payment. > > Just my 2¢ > > Guy Nichols, RPT > > At 04:16 PM 1/3/2003 -0500, you wrote: > Hi List, > > Subject: 3 yr old Otto Altenburg grand made by Samick. Cust has > been complaining of "sticking keys" and keys "not bouncing" since > new. I am the 3rd tech involved. Previous techs have done the > Proteck thing without having found anything specific wrong and > have been trying to sell a Dampp-Chaser, so I'm told by the cust > and dealer. The player is a 13 yr old boy who plays VERY well. I > did find VERY sluggish hammer and extremely sluggish wippen > flanges to the point that most had to be re-pinned and a few wip > flanges had severe wood binding. Temp was 71deg and humidity was > 42%. I charged the dealer for the work. Two weeks pass and she > called me again stating it is a single key "not bouncing", I asked > her to have her son mark the offending key, which he did and it > was failing when I arrived. The problem was a severely tight > jack/flange.. it was taking 1-3 minutes for the jack to get back > under the knuckle, again, pinning was not the issue but a wood > binding problem. All was well. I didn't charge anyone this trip. > Temp 70deg, humidity 43%. Today she called back again, 3 weeks > later, with the same issue, different keys. The dealer made it > clear to me last time they would not put any more money into this > piano so I told the cust I would be happy to fix the offenders or > take the action home but I would have to charge for it this time. > She told me it had a lifetime warranty and the dealer would have > to pay me. > > So... as I se it, this is a piano that was not right from day one > and the action or the piano should be replaced or at least the > dealer needs to pay whatever it takes to make it right but they > don't want to do that. Is this a common Samick problem? I know you > get what you pay for but she paid for a working piano and it > doesn't. > > Thanks folks! > > Mike > > > Mike McCoy RPT > Chapters 170 & 190 PTG > Langhorne, Pa > mailto:mjmccoyrpt@earthlink.net > > Mike McCoy RPT > Chapters 170 & 190 PTG > Langhorne, Pa > mailto:mjmccoyrpt@earthlink.net
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