lessons learned

[Charles Neuman]

Can someone help me out with what the tech should say in this case?

I would have a hard time saying, "Gee, see this cheap plastic? It broke.
It's not my fault, and I'm not fixing it. But you can pay me $40, and now
your piano doesn't work. See ya!"

Is that pretty much what you have to say, but in a way that makes the
customer happy? Seriously, I'm really scared of a situation like this,
especially if I'm not armed with a way to handle it.

Thanks,

Charles Neuman
PTG Assoc, Long Island



>   Tvak@aol.com wrote:=20
>
>     To all=20
>     Today I taught myself a couple of lessons.  First of all, I will =
> never break the following rule ever again:=20
>
>     Don't ever...ever....even TOUCH a plastic flange unless it is glued =
> to the doorknob of the exit door and even only then if there's no other =
> way out.=20
>
>     I replaced a set of elbows today.  I knew that it had plastic wippen =
> flanges.  Why was I so careless snapping that first elbow in place?  The =
> price?  Removal of the spinet action to replace the cracked plastic =
> wippen flange.=20
>
>     The other 87 elbows snap in place with no further problem due to =
> extreme care on my part.  Adjust the lost motion and...play the piano.  =
> Hmmm...the hammer on middle C is double striking.  I'll just move the =
> backcheck forward and... (What was I thinking...?)=20
>
>     Out comes the spinet action to replace the newly broken plastic =
> wippen flange.  While replacing the wippen flange I brush against a =
> damper lever and...now I can replace the plastic damper flange on that =
> damper lever and... the one next to it which I also bumped into with the =
> screwdriver.=20
>
>     Back goes the action and as I play the piano I realize that the =
> damper lever on D5 is not damping due to it's also being cracked.  (I =
> did look at them all while they were out of the piano, but it was not =
> visually apparent.)  Now, I was nowhere near D5 so I wonder if this was =
> a pre-existing problem, which leads me to the next lesson I learned:=20
>
>     Check the piano first to see if there are any problems.=20
>
>     BTW, my original service call on this piano was 6 months ago at =
> which time I replaced 4 elbows and informed the client of the existence =
> of all the plastic flanges, and the costs involved in replacing them.  I =
> advised him NOT to put any money into this Lester spinet, other than =
> replacing those 4 elbows that had already broken.  Six months later he =
> called to tell me to go ahead with the elbows.   In the back of my mind =
> I was thinking, wasn't this the piano with all the plastic flanges?  But =
> rather than say anything, I just went ahead and made the appointment.  =
> Which leads me to the last lesson for the day:=20
>
>     Take better notes on each piano for future reference.=20
>
>     I rarely share my experiences with others on the list.   Hope this =
> was worth reading...=20
>
>     Tom Sivak
>