<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252"> </head> <body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "> <div>Yup.  As soon as you get them close to nice. Then off they go!  I didn't do it with Yamaha's either….some other SE Asian pianos not looked upon as 'good' back in the late 80's and early 90's.  You remember action spread and fallboards that never closed right??  That was my world for a couple years…..a couple was too long, too!</div> <div> </div> <div>Paul</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:11pt; text-align:left; color:black; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt"> From: Jerry Groot <<a href="mailto:tunerboy3@comcast.net">tunerboy3@comcast.net</a>> Reply-To: "<a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a>" <<a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a>> Date: Thursday, June 7, 2012 5:05 PM To: "<a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a>" <<a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a>> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Yamaha Exchange program; pros, cons </div> <div> </div> <div xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"> <style></style> <div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"> <div class="WordSection1"> My college did this for 17 years or more.  Each year, we were getting between 30 & 35 new pianos brought in.  At first it was a good deal all the way around.  “Free pianos to use for one year but for the cost of the tunings.”  Sales were up, so the dealer sold a lot of units every year during their yearly sale and of course, the college saved a considerable amount of money in repair work, literally thousands of dollars.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We did notdo it with Yamaha.  It was another brand.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> While getting new pianos every year does have its upside, a warranty being one positive thing, there is a downside to it.  Dealing with all of the issues that continually crop up every single year with new pianos.  One problem we encountered most of the time, were pianos that were being delivered totally un-prepped.  Often, uncrated right on the spot….  You know what that means…  A lot of extra work!  Major pitch raises and a lot of prep work.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We also encountered frequent problems with the pianos.  Things from bobbling hammers to blocking hammers 6 months later, to sticking keys and loose hammer heads and butts.  Of course we also had pianos where the tuning changed rather quickly due to being brand new.  Consequently, I had dozens of emergency calls, one after the another until I could work through all of the problems.  Then, the pianos were sold and it started all over again the following fall.  That got old fast!!!!!  <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> We never had a real chance for the pianos to settle in.  They were delivered the last week in August and school is out the 2nd week of May.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> As the economy took a nose dive so did sales.  Toward the end of the sale, the rules changed for the college.  To save money, they were made to pay for a lot more things other than tunings….  That’s all I’ll say about that.  Due to that however, I talked them into ending the sale.  We chose to purchase over 26 new pianos and some digitals.  It was still a win-win for the dealer.  But, for the college, I’m not so sure.  They spent tens of thousands replacing them.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On the flip side though, in my opinion we are better off with pianos that are “being seasoned” and pianos that I can get to know permanently.  Pianos that I can fix and pianos that will stay fixed because they are not rotated yearly.  Plus, they hold tuning a whole lot better now!    <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> I wouldn’t recommend it, but then, we didn’t have Yamaha’s either…..  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Jer<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div> <div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"> From: <a href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org">caut-bounces@ptg.org</a> [<a href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org">mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org</a>] On Behalf Of Aaron Bousel Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 2:34 PM To: <a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Yamaha Exchange program; pros, cons<o:p></o:p> </div> </div> <o:p> </o:p> 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: <o:p></o:p> On 6/7/2012 10:42 AM, James Schmitt wrote: <o:p></o:p> 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.<o:p></o:p> This is the intent. Yamaha set this program up to sell pianos, not to support schools or dealers. Ron N<o:p></o:p> ------------------------------------------ Aaron Bousel Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild <a href="mailto:abousel@comcast.net">abousel@comcast.net</a> (413) 253-3846 (voice & fax)<o:p></o:p> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>