Dealer

[Frank Weston]

David ilvedson wrote:
> 
> Dear List,
> 
> I received a call from a lady who lives in San Francisco but is
> currently working in Vienna.  She had just bought a Steinway M
> from a local store a few weeks earlier with the stipulation that
> a technician needed to OK the condition of the instrument.  By
> the way she had another technician check it out before me but
> wanted a second opinion (I haven't heard what his report was
> yet).   The deal with the dealer was that they only got M's 3 or
> 4 times a year and this was quite a instrument.  She paid them
> $22,000 for the piano........

David,

Don't get caught in the middle.  Simply tell the lady exactly what you
would charge to bring this piano up to like new (or better condition). 
Itemize the defects and indicate how much it would cost to cure each
one.  She knows (or can find out) what a new "M" goes for, and she knows
she is being charged $22,000 for this piano.  Let her do the math and
draw her own conclusion.

I will stipulate that $22,000 is pretty steep for the instrument you
have described, particularly 30 years old, sight unseen.

Frank Weston