This is a multipart message in MIME format ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment When you're starting out you always have time for these old= pianos. I remember dealing with swollen key leads on a English= Birdcage... At this time in my career I don't give a damn about educating a= bad customer. I now know when to cut my losses... David I. ----- Original message ----------------------------------------> From: Michael or Margaret Kurta <mkurta@adelphia.net> To: Rob Goodale <rrg@unlv.nevada.edu>, Pianotech= <pianotech@ptg.org> Received: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 06:32:16 -0400 Subject: Re: Piano from Hell Rob: Sounds like not only was the piano from hell, but so was the= customer. I hate unreasonable piano owners. However, if I have= the time, I'll take one on. By that I mean I look at the owner= as a challenge to educate and eventually win him/her over to my= way of thinking. When confronted by a piano from hell, and its= obvious that it should not be repaired, I make a list, the most= important and expensive things first. In this case your list= was very long, but honestly reflected the items needing= attention. Then by going down the list WITH the owner, explaining in= detail item by item what the instrument needs to make it usable,= and why, the customer will begin to realize (without you telling= him) that it may be a lost cause. But if you start out your= analysis by saying "it is a dead piano and there is nothing left= to fix" you may encounter resistance. The idea is to let the customer's thinking flow into the= obvious by gently pointing out the many, many things the piano= needs to bring it back to good playability. Occasionally I'll= use a quote from my mentor Frank McKowen, RPT from Lansing, MI= who said, "You deserve a better piano." This sometimes enables= the owner see the light. If all that you say falls on deaf ears, its time to pack up= your tools and say, "You know Mr. Pianist, I'm not sure I can= handle this job, its probably best to try another technician." = Leave him with hope that there may be an answer, and let another= reinforce your findings. Maybe that will head him in the right= direction, you've done all you can do. Mike Kurta ----- Original Message ----- From: Rob Goodale To: Pianotech 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/6f/ef/30/50/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC