[pianotech] breach of contract?

Garret E. Traylor hpp at highpointpiano.com
Fri Mar 29 06:22:59 MDT 2013


The luxury of turning down work comes by a combination of blessings.  All
pianos delivered should have a rock solid tuning (fleeting though it may be)
... or customer should expect the service too be included provided as "Value
added Service".  Keep on the high road as you can afford to stay there
longer than she can both of you will be win win. When your colleague
"tuner/stringer" got involved I see that you gave him the baton ... so to
speak.  The customer may need an extra tuning or so.  Not a big deal.  Get
back on the podium and let her get herself together.  What if the bad had
not happened ... then you would be on time she would be happy.  That is
where you need to pick back up. Proper prep on the piano IMHO should be
delivered as if you had no complications. 

 

Kindest Regards,

Garret 

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Terry Peterson
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 11:50 AM
To: PIANOTECH at PTG.ORG
Subject: [pianotech] breach of contract?

 

Client wanted her 1940's Cable petite grand restrung. As per my usual
routine, I did the complete prep, and then would have a technician
specializing in stringing restring the piano. From the beginning this client
was, shall we say, a royal pain. But I was already well along in the prep
stage, having removed all old wire, pins, installed understring felts,
cleaned and detailed, plus ordered and received the bass strings. I had
initially confirmed one particular stringer (I won't mention who) who was
set to do the stringing, but he pulled out at the last moment claiming an
injury. This necessitated postponing/rescheduling with the client while I
tried to find a replacement. 

The second "stringer" was suggested by the first, and also was set to do the
job, but HE also bailed out at the last minute! At this point my client was
understandably upset. Very soon after, and luckily, I got in touch with a
technician I have known for at least 15 years, and although he doesn't do
stringing as a specialty, he has strung many pianos and agreed to do the
job. He did have to take more time to finish in order to fit the work in
with his other tuning commitments, but it was finished and he did a
fantastic job. Now, the client is avoiding my calls and payment of the
balance due, and again when I called her just this morning, she said she was
on the phone and would all back. Never did. It's now been 6 days since the
work was completed.

So I'm wondering what to do. She is really a major nitpicker and I fear she
may refuse payment on some frivolous grounds. My technician friend told me
that she was instantly complaining that her piano "didn't sound right" after
he finished and gave it a chip tune. He explained that it was not yet in
tune, but would sound much better once the first actual tuning was done in a
few days.  So if she refuses payment, or any further communication, what are
my options. Sue? It seems to me that she would lose hands down as the work
was completed in good faith. The only valid complaint she could make is that
the work took a little longer than expected, but there was no guarantee of
when the job would be completed. And I should add that it was this client
who had rescheduled the start of the job THREE times! That means that each
time she rescheduled that I would have to call to do the same with the
stringer(s). 


Terry "UniGeezer" Peterson
"Over 50, and not '2' Tired!" 
 <http://unigeezer.com/> www.unigeezer.com

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