why sell maintenance the customer won't notice?

[Dave Nereson]

    Tuned a medium-quality console that was 25 or 30 years old and had had 
minimal use.  While tuning along, I noticed that it could use vacuuming and 
a light hammer filing, but not terribly.  There was a bit too much lost 
motion, but not enough to bother most players.  Several hammers weren't 
quite aligned to the center of the unisons, but were still striking all 
three strings.  I'm sure the keys weren't perfectly level, nor the dip 
nicely uniform, and from its age and length of time without tuning, I'm sure 
all the flange screws needed tightening, along with plate screws and all 
other screws.  Oh, and there were a few strings in the treble that maybe 
needed seating on the bridge or maybe their bridge pins tapped in (false 
beats).  And I imagine that the let-off was a bit wide.  But it played 
nicely and had a decent, acceptable tone and sustain.
    Nevertheless, I thought I should point out to the owner what work the 
piano could use in addition to tuning to put it in top shape.  So I 
explained all the above-mentioned items, that it was 30 years old and no 
piano goes that long without needing at least some routine maintenance,  and 
that it would cost a few hundred dollars to do a complete job.
    She replied, "What would I notice?"
    And you know, in all honesty, I had to reply, "Well, maybe not much." 
The tone might be a LITTLE rounder after hammer filing, or it might be too 
bright and need subsequent voicing down.  The tone was pretty nice as it 
was.  She MIGHT notice that the action was a tiny bit more responsive (no 
lost motion, closer let-off) IF she was a fairly advanced player, which she 
was not.  But vacuuming, tightening plate and flange screws, seating strings 
or bridge pins, de-traveling "wandering" shanks, regulating dip . . . I 
doubt she or most average casual players would notice any change.  (I 
already tuned it).
    Now, with much older pianos where the hammers are extremely worn and the 
action is extremely out of regulation, or when the hammers badly need 
voicing, often the difference after reconditioning is dramatic.  And 
sometimes the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, that is, they 
might not notice this or that item, but all together, the reconditioning 
improves the sound and touch of the instrument.  But in this case, I had a 
hard time selling the job to even myself.
    Whatta ya do in these cases?  Just leave it?  Wait until it's "pretty 
bad" before you work on it?  Why should they spend $300 or more if the piano 
will feel and sound about the same as it did before?  It doesn't increase 
the value all that much.  It does prevent things from getting worse, I 
guess, but in this case, I think the piano would be about the same, 
regulation-wise, in 5 or even 10 years from now, with its very casual use, 
since it's been "about the same"  for the LAST 5 or 10 years.
    --David Nereson, RPT