responsibility

[Greg Newell]

Piano brethren,
	This is primarily addressed to those of us who service dealer accounts but is 
perhaps applicable to us all. 
	I am now, once again, (how do I get into these things anyway) in the middle of a 
skirmish between the manufacturer, the dealer, and our mutual customer.  A piano was 
sold which inside of 2 1/2 years of it's date of manufacture has developed some minor 
clicks and general light noise in the action noticable on light playing. During inspection 
adn general toying around with it I found that a majority of the hammer flanges are 
pinned with the right side bushing looser than the left and with the end of the pin on the 
loose side slightly discolored (blackened).  This is complicated by an obvious lack of 
proper regulation and or prep before delivery. Finally, this animal is voice to wake the 
dead!  
	Now that you all have the background (except the obvious .... the maker), I 
would now like to offer the following for your musings. Where does the manufacturers/ 
dealers/ owners responsibilities begin and end?  Wouldn't it be nice to have an easy 
to follow guideline? A line drawn in the sand, so to speak? How does one tactfully 
handle a problem when they don't know where in the responsibility lies?  I have on a 
number of occasions gone on exploritory service calls requested by the customer 
where I have eaten the time because of the grey area of , who pays?  Not to tasty! 
	 I enjoy having the dealer work that I do. That said, I'm finding more and more 
that dealers in general don't seem to want to spend much if any at all on floor tunings ( 
not that I like them anyway) or any kind of prep work. The perception I have is that 
they'll spend money to fix something not functioning but past that they feel that their 
profit margin is not high enough to justify the expense.  I have noticed also that the 
manufacturers (in general) also seem to be spending less time in the pre delivery prep. 
I remember pianos showing up not really even needing full tunings. Not so anymore. 
PLEASE! Understand I am most definitely not singleing out any piano builders out there 
but rather unfairly lumping all of them together.  These are just general perceptions of 
mine having done moderate dealer work for quite a few years now.
	I am anxious to hear your perceptions, suggestions, recommendations or 
furthur musings on this subject.  I am NOT, however, interested in any flames as this 
post is not meant to offend anyone.  That said          have at it all!!!!
				Kindest regards,
					Greg Newell
Greg and Mary Ellen Newell
Greg's Piano Forte`
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
gnewell@en.com