On Fri, 17 Feb 1995, David Porritt wrote: > "One point we stressed was that people have a right to buy any quality > piano they choose, and other people have a right to build any quality > piano they choose. It's not my, your or anybody else's business...." > > Does that bother anyone else? I'm politically conservative enough that I > believe it at the theoretical level, but somehow it rankles me where the > shoe leather meets the pavement. Jack has expressed that idea in PTG > meetings and I know he believes it firmly. > > I guess if honest people tell the customers that this piano was made from > recycled Cracker Jack boxes and they still want to buy it that's one > thing. However, most of the time the only disclaimer about Doo Doo pianos > is "...well for THIS kind of money it's not a Steinway but it's really > a great beginner piano...." > > I just worked on a Piano Shaped Object - one year old - made in Russia. I > guess the dealer had the right to sell it, and the owner had the right to > buy it but I don't think he's very happy that he excercised that right. I think the key here is not so much *honest* people as *knowledgeable* people. I can't tell you how many times I've heard and read about folks rushing out to buy one of those PSOs because so-and-so said it was a great piano for beginners -- despite the fact that so-and-so doesn't even *own* a piano! I, too, am of the conservative bent where _caviat emptor_ rules. If junk is what they want, junk is what they get. I simply choose not to service what *I* perceive to be junk pianos. I (we) have the right to refuse to service instruments we find to be troublesome -- that makes a level playing field for buyer and technician. I might add that I believe it's my right to decide not to service the piano whose owner is overwrought with their piano's maladies -- be it stubborn voicing problems, resolutely unstable tunings, etc. It's a luxury I can afford as long as I'm on the public dole. As long as I've met my obligation to perform, I feel that I have the right to refuse service. (Of course, I don't deal in contracts with my customers. They tend to call me rather than the other way around.....with only a few exceptions.) Once I decide to leave university work, I'll have to reconsider that approach -- if I decide to try to make of go of full-time private sector work. Discussion Bait: Aren't we glad we don't have the government telling us what we can and cannot charge our customers or how, when, where and with whom we can do business? Ron Torrella Self-explanatory - [A]bort [C]ancel [R]etry University of Illinois Inexplicable - + + +
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