This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment "I had one of my worst experiences as a piano technician this morning." >From what you describe, I can only assume that your day would have been = ten times worse if you had not walked away from this one. Unfortunately, = I think Barbara was right that the client was even worse than the piano. = You did the right thing. On the other hand, not all old uprights belong in the dumpster. I have a = full regulation and tuning on an 1890s M&H upright scheduled at the end = of this month. The wear factor on this piano is that of an average 40 = year old piano (it is one of the best-original-condition old uprights I = have ever seen). I quoted her up to $1,300. She said great! I said = great! Every once in a while you run into an old upright that ya just = gotta love! Just make sure the $$ are there to cover your a$$! ;-) Terry Farrell ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Rob Goodale=20 To: Pianotech=20 Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 11:54 AM Subject: Piano from Hell I had one of my worst experiences as a piano technician this morning. = I got a call from a guy who told me his piano needed tuning and repair. = I agreed to take the job. Upon arriving I about fell over. It turned out to be a 90 year old "Metropolitan" full upright. It was = the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen outside of a land fill. I = immediately started in how old the piano was and probably not worth = fixing but he quickly cut me off and in a heavy British accent told me = to "please fix it". The "thing" had been painted white. He was now in = the process of painting it gold which he proudly proclaimed was = "restoring the finish". Chunks of wood were missing out of the case. I = opened it to find that the action was not even screwed in place, just = laying in the piano. There was one broken treble string and the bass = strings were black with corrosion. There was a crack running under the bass bridge and the apron was = loose. There were broken bridal straps, broken hammers, and several = others that had been previously broken and reglued with string. most of = the hammer return springs were out of place and some were missing. One = sharp was missing, the key bushings were worn out, someone did a poor = job at recovering the keys, and the pivot pin on the sustain pedal had = been sheared off completely and the bushing block was shattered. He continued on about what a "great piano" it was as I looked at the = sad heap. I calmly explained that there was simply nothing left to fix, = the piano was dead and what he needed was a new piano. He came back = with "You Yanks, your all alike. You throw anything away. In England = we would never throw out a fine instrument like this!" Then he bragged = about how he KNEW what he was talking about because HE was a pianist! = (Oh golly silly me, I should have worshipped his feet on the spot!) = Then he proudly announced that he bought it from an auction so it MUST = be a good piano! (Now there's reasoning for you). I continued to explain that I was trying to save him money, that it = would cost him far more to repair than to replace it. He demanded to = know how much. I explained that it would cost hundreds just to make it = produce sound again and even then it would be nothing but trouble. "Oh = no I don't want to do all that, I just want it REPAIRED, you know, so = that it works"! (Excuse me didn't I just say that? Do we need = subtitles for this conversation?" I then explained that what the piano = really needed was a complete restoration and that would cost at least = $10,000.00. "I'm trying to save you money, this piano is NOT worth it, = you really should consider buying another piano". He again reminded me = that he was a pianist and that he knew this piano was worth it and that = it really didn't need that much work. Finally I just told him flat out = that I couldn't help him and that I really didn't have the time to spend = three days working on it. His disposition continued to get worse as I = made a hasty exit. Shame on me... after all this guy was a "pianist" and got it from an = auction so he MUST know what he's talking about! Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/de/a0/41/94/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC