Who gets the bill?(responses to posts by Ed, Phil, and Dean)

Piannaman@aol.com Piannaman@aol.com
Thu, 24 Feb 2005 10:10:24 EST


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In a  message dated 2/24/05 3:47:27 AM Pacific Standard Time, A440A@aol.com=20=
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writes:     A little advance communication with the dealer  would have made=20
all this=20
a no-brainer, you would have known who you were  working for before you bega=
n=20
the work and they would have known they were  going to pay.  Now that you=20
have=20
made the investment of your time, you  will have to sell the dealer on=20
accepting=20
that it was in his best interest  that you did that.  Was there a warranty?=20=
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What sort of dealer is  involved here?  One that simply sells product or one=
=20
who=20
cares about  how the instruments perform?=20
Some kind of agreement with the  potential warrantor(?) will make these=20
situations a lot easier to deal with. =20
Ed,
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Sorry for not clarifying this better.  I did contact both the dealer  and th=
e=20
sales rep before going out.  Because I wasn't entirely sure what  the "stick=
y=20
note" problem was before my visit, the sales rep wanted to wait for  my=20
diagnosis of the problem in order to assess the company's level of  responsi=
bility.=20
 And yes, there is a warranty. =20
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The dealer would pay, I'm just not sure that this type of  regulation is his=
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responsibility at this point.  The piano should function  at a basic level=20
when this fresh from the factory, at the very least, in my  opinion.=20
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The dealer is one who generally does minimum work--store tuning is about  it=
,=20
most of the time, though I have on occasion done some real prep-work for =20
him.  Definitely more of a sales person than a piano person, but he  has tre=
ated=20
me extremely well in both word and deed.
=20
As a side note, my conversation with the sales rep may indeed prove =20
fruitful.  The company in question has had no technician to work with  direc=
tly in my=20
area, and he seemed interested in using my  services.=20
Dean May  wrote:=20
"The customer  contracted with you, he called you. He is therefore=20
responsible for your bill  and he can negotiate with the dealer or with the=20=
manufacturer=20
for reimbursement.  If he had called the dealer first and the dealer had sen=
t=20
you out it would be a  different story.=20
Now on the people side  of the equation, he will probably be pretty upset if=
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you take that approach. I  would show him a bill with his name on it and tel=
l=20
him that you don=E2=80=99t think he  should be responsible for it and you wi=
ll try to=20
get the dealer or the mfr to  pay. But he knows that it is his name on the=20
bill which sends the message that  he is ultimately responsible. "=20
Dean, =20
I generally like to be the go-between for my customers with  the dealer or=20
manufacturer.   I always tell them that if any problem  arise with the piano=
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arise, call me. I feel that it cements long-term  loyalty in my relationship=
 with=20
that customer.  If I'm certain that the  problem is the responsibility of th=
e=20
customer, that's a different matter.   Here, it's evident that this is not=20
the case.

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Phil Bondi wrote:
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Contact the manufacturer's service rep - let that person know  what's=20
been done, then submit a bill with an explanation of what the  symptoms=20
were and how you solved it. That bill should not go to the dealer  or the=20
owner..it should go to the manufacturer..with an  explanation.

Manufacturers like explanations.
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Phil,
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This is kind of where I'm headed.  I've got  a fully detailed explanation of=
=20
what the problem was and what I did to correct  it ready to send off to the=20
proper address.
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Thanks to all.  Invaluable feedback, as  usual!
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Dave S.



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