Ethics question

[Farrell]

I think part of what's might be missing in this discussion is the fact that the customer could have countered the piano owner's bid rejection with a higher offer.

I do a fair number of pre-purchase piano inspections. However, one thing I have always avoided is recommending what to offer. In all honesty that has been my policy not because I am so wise, but rather because I'm just no good at bargaining (I would pay the asking price for a Mexican rug to a street vendor in Guadalajara).

I will detail my opinion of the piano's condition, I will provide input on the piano's suitability for the intended use, and I will give the client several value ranges - such as what a dealer might sell it for, wholesale value, and high and low range for a private sale. I will then explain to them that depending on how anxious they are to get the piano and how comfortable they are with price dickering should likely should influence what they ultimately offer.

That way the ultimate offer is up to them - any risk of the owner being insulted with a too-low offer is (mostly) their doing. This has worked well for me.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
> May I suggest what I might do at this point: contact your 
> customer, explain exactly what happened, and offer to 
> purchase the piano he/she bought for the same price he/she 
> paid; in addition, offer in turn to sell the piano that you 
> bought to your customer for the price that you paid, the 
> asking price.  I would explain that you assumed that their 
> offer of a few hundred below the asking price would be 
> accepted, as it often is in transactions such as this.  
> Naturally, after the customer had already bought another 
> piano, you didn't see any harm in buying it yourself.  But 
> after thinking about it, you realize that it's best to make 
> this offer up front to your customer.  
> 
> If the customer doesn't accept your proposal, then he 
> probably has the piano he wants; regardless, you can know 
> that you did all you can to make the matter right, ethically 
> speaking.  I would guess that your reputation would grow 
> after sharing your current concerns with your customer, 
> regardless of what he decides to do.  
> 
> If you don't like this idea, I suppose you could still tell 
> your customer what happened and offer to refund the money 
> that you accepted to evaluate the piano.  Or, you could try 
> this first and play it by ear, and determine if your 
> customer harbors any bad feelings about the whole thing.  
> Regardless, I think, for myself, I wouldn't feel so good 
> keeping silent about it, based on what I understand in your 
> email.  It probably would have been best to tell the 
> customer at the time of your appraisal that you would 
> purchase the piano if he didn't, but of course hindsight is 
> 20/20.  My impression is that you really weren't trying to 
> do anything underhanded--it's just that, considering the way 
> things turned out, it could be perceived that way by the 
> customer.
> 
> Tim
> 
> 
> ---- Original message ----
>>Date: Wed, 03 May 2006 20:34:53 -0400
>>From: PJR <pryan2 at the-beach.net>  
>>Subject: Ethics question  
>>To: ilvey at sbcglobal.net, Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
>>
>>   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
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20060504/5d61f932/attachment.html