Yamaha Service Bond

[harvey]

David / list,

I have not performed a Yamaha Service Bond, defined as such, since the 70's. I
don't  mind doing them, rather I no longer have a nearby Yamaha dealer to
provide the opportunity.

When I did do them, I did a LOT of them. When I called on the dealer, he would
present me with, literally, a hand full of cards, with a rubber band holding
them together. I would follow through, then get another batch. At that time in
my career, I was building my private clientele, and came on depend on the
revenue (yes, discounted) to pay bills during that period.

Realizing that these cards represented future prospective clients for me, I
assumed the following attitudes:

1. work harder now, and not so hard later on;
2. show to the client how much Yamaha cares, AND how much I care for their
instrument. Both can be accomplished without duplication of effort;
3. If anything out of the ordinary was found during these calls, what better
time to correct the matter under terms of warranty. It happened, infrequently,
but it happened. At this point, depending on severity, the clock stops on the
service bond agreement, and becomes a separate warranty matter.
 
Although no one ever told me, I consider the service bond program as a "landed
quality check".  When the program was initiated by LaRoy Edwards, Yamaha was
new in this country, and planned to stay. They could not afford the
'luxury' of
having negative connotations associated with their products. So, I consider
the
program to reflect an attitude on their part, not a marketing ploy. (Although,
as a marketing tool, it seems to have paid off!)

I don't remember my time stamps for the service bonds. I do remember adhering
closely to the checklist. Like you, I found myself in the minority -- I was
taking more time than others. Further investigation revealed those with the
fastest times...

* did ONE service bond following the procedure;
* found that particular piano not to need all this effort;
* figured they were all perfect, so why bother going through the exercise;
* determined that, in 45 minutes, one can brush up unisons on a tuning at
extant pitch (essentially "bless" the piano); drink coffee and glad-hand with
the client, and still make it to the next appointment on time.

On the local issue, the more of these you do, the more efficent you will
become
-- to a point. I don't think you'll ever do the entire procedure _including_
pitch adjustment and tuning in 45 minutes. Using your list in reverse, you
might expect 45 minutes to raise/lower pitch and tune, then add in your
average
time for the other items.

Regardless, I encourage you to stick to your present work ethic. In the long
run, it certainly worked for me!

[quote]
At 01:36 PM 6/5/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I have been doing the Yamaha Service Bond for a few new Yamaha pianos
>recently.  When I talked to the dealer technical service manager and turned
>in my bill, she said that the Service Bond usually takes about 45 minutes
>to an hour.  I have been spending two hours for an upright piano, and three
>hours for a grand piano.
[cut...]


Jim Harvey, RPT
harvey@greenwood.net