Ethics question

[PJR]

I was asked to evaluate the condition of a used piano for a customer 
(buyer)  for a nominal fee.  It was a private sale.  When I went to see 
the piano, it was one that I had been wanting for some time.  *I* wanted 
to buy it from the seller.  Question: How, when and/or what must I do, 
ethically, to buy it  from the seller seeing that now I had a fiduciary 
relationship with the customer who paid my fee?

What actually happened:

I wrote a positive report of the piano and recommended the buyer offer 
several hundred dollars below the asking price.  She did so, but, the 
seller rejected her offer.  The buyer  left the deal and bought another 
piano elsewhere.  When I heard she bought another piano, without telling 
her,  I offered the original seller his price and bought the piano.  Did 
I do wrong?  Should I have asked her permission?  Should I tell her now, 
especially since she plans to  hire me to tune her new piano?  I have a 
queasy feeling about the deal. Should I?    It could be a future, 
awkward situation.

Phil Ryan
Miami Beach




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