Ethics question

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Tim,
 Great advice, Phil might also offer to deliver the piano.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "timothy ehlen" <tehlen at uiuc.edu>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 10:39 PM
Subject: Re: Ethics question


> Phil,
> 
> 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