<html> <body> I can agree with much of what has already been said. The reliability and integrity of the dealer is very important. We had a program for many years in which the department received 14 pianos each fall. Eleven verticals (mostly P22, a few U1, and more recently some T118/120) and three small grands. The department was required to buy one piano at the end of the academic year and the dealer got to hold a sale at the Fine Arts Center. The program was ended at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year. The person who dealt with the dealership found them unreliable (pianos never showed up when they were supposed to) and sometimes less than honest. (I've never heard the dealer's side of things, however.) The department chair effectively lobbied the dean and they were able to get enough money in hand to buy new pianos to replace the loaners. Many were bought through the same dealer so the dealer really couldn't complain. The one thing I really liked about the program was that the department was forced to buy one new piano (it was always a P22) each year which meant I could get rid of one old piano and was able to go some distance in getting rid of some of the worst instruments. Having a forced rotation of stock was a very good thing. With all the recently purchased pianos the department doesn't have to get rid of anything immediately, but that day will come and will be subject to the budgetary process in a way that it wasn't before. One thought, to avoid getting into a situation where you're completely dependent on the program, an institution could purchase more than the required piano each year so that after a certain number of years the instrument stock becomes improved enough so that the program isn't needed. One nice thing about being done with the program is that I no longer have 14 pianos in their first year of life to contend with. Aaron At 12:16 PM 6/7/2012, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">On 6/7/2012 10:42 AM, James Schmitt wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">The thing that I find so hard about the piano exchange programs to start out with is that they tend to leave the school dependent  on the program without a way out.</blockquote> This is the intent. Yamaha set this program up to sell pianos, not to support schools or dealers. Ron N </blockquote> <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> ------------------------------------------ Aaron Bousel Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild abousel@comcast.net (413) 253-3846 (voice & fax)</body> </html>