[CAUT] Loaner programs

[Aaron Bousel]

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I am also a contract tuner. At UMass there are 65 pianos. Each year 
we get 14 Yamahas through the local dealer. Ten P22s, one U1, and 
three grands (this year a GC1, a C1 and a C2, that varies slightly 
from year to year). The Music Department buys one P22 each year which 
allows us to get rid of that year's worst old piano. I'm in my 4th 
year there and I have seen the disappearance of the last of the 30 
+/- year old Hamiltons. Next in line are three old Yamaha P202s. From 
my perspective it's a great way to go. The pianos come through the 
local dealer and the dealer runs a piano sale at the end of the 
academic year which includes many other instruments. I don't know 
where those come from I have no contact with the dealer, it's all 
done through the department. This past fall the person who deals with 
all this was feeling a bit like the dealer was taking us for granted 
as reflected by a significant rise in delivery costs (that's the 
department's other out of pocket expense besides buying the one 
piano) and he asked me if I knew of any other company that had such a 
loaner plan. I asked if he could contact Yamaha directly and discuss 
his feelings about the dealer and he said that everything had to go 
through the dealer. I don't know what's come of that. I'm hoping 
they've worked it out because I feel that it's a good arrangement for 
all parties concerned.

Aaron

At 05:40 AM 2/12/2006, you wrote:
>In a message dated 2/10/2006 11:51:37 A.M. US Eastern Standard Time, 
>atodd@uh.edu writes:
>Is anyone using Yamaha for any kind of a "loaner" program?
>If so, how is it working for you?
>
>     I am a contract tuner for a college and a University that use 
> the Yamaha loan program from the local dealer. As far as the 
> business end of the deal, I only know bits and pieces but could 
> find out more if there are specific questions. From the piano 
> maintenance end of it: the pianos go out of tune more quickly than 
> the "resident" pianos, at least for the first semester, but that is 
> not such a big deal. The reliability of the action is a little 
> better on the new ones. (Not the case when we had the Baldwin 
> loaner program, unfortunately.)
>     The idea from Yamaha's perspective is that if the university 
> buys up to 20% of the loaners each year, in five years they will 
> have bunch of young pianos that are reliable and have the Yamaha 
> name in front of teachers and students. From the dealers 
> perspective, they get to have a "university sale" on campus after 
> the school year and tend to get some alumni in for piano purchases 
> that might otherwise be putting off a big ticket item. From the 
> universities perspective, these new pianos are much better than the 
> beaters that were in there before. Also, for current as well as 
> prospective students, a bunch of newish looking pianos that play 
> well and sound good give a positive impression of the music school.
>     John Stroup


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Aaron Bousel
Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild
abousel@comcast.net
(413) 253-3846 (voice & fax) 
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