Tooners :-( or exasperation exemplified!!

[Brian Trout]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the additional input.  I don't envy your position.

>   Well for me that is the only good part of the story. The customer called
4
> of the piano stores in town and they each recommended me as the tech to
>do any evaluation/repairs. Makes me feel really good......or should it make
<me  feel like a target? :-)

Your opinion, having had the recommendation of not just one or even two, but
4 dealers has put you in a position where you probably have significant
clout with the customer going into the situation.  I would commend you on
having developed this kind of relationship with those dealers.

>  Here is part of the rub Brian the customer has nothing, or at least say
they
> don't, in writing!!

That's the part that would worry me, from a legal point of view.  I don't
know what other people are doing, but when I estimate a job, I provide two
copies to the customer with a fairly detailed account of what I propose to
do, how much it will cost, aproximate finish date, and payment details.  On
the work I've done to date, I've also given a one year warranty.  (I'm not
sure the warranty means a whole lot if the work is done right in the first
place, but it seems to make people happy.)  The customer signs both copies,
and I sign both copies, and we each have one copy to keep.  Another thing
that I add to my contract paperwork is a statement to the effect that work
done will be done to a minimum of original quality or better.  I do think
that obligates me to a certain standard, and a high standard is where I want
to be.

<snip>...Further if events proceed to the point of work being
> done I will photograph everything before and after.

Excellent point, Jim.  The photos won't lie, and would be about as good as
evidence would get, should they be needed.  Almost as an aside, I think it's
a really 'cool' practice to take pictures of the jobs that go through the
shop anyway.  It's neat to see how things progress.  I've done this on
several jobs where the customer wanted a pictorial account of what happened
to their piano.  I'm guessing it will be a sort of keepsake for them to have
along side of their piano.

<snip>... the only thing I can
> truthfully say is what condition the thingee is in now and what needs to
be
> done for it to be "acceptable" at some minimum, commonly recognized,
level.

True, at least at the moment.  From your description of the customer,
though, the piano won't likely be thrown out with the trash.  This
"re-messer-upper" dude didn't really do anything that can't be undone, so I
wouldn't say anything has actually been destroyed.  (He didn't saw the case
in half to install the new pinblock...)  It's sad, it's annoying, it's
frustrating, maybe infuriating.  But there's still the hope and the
mechanical possibility of a good piano.  As for "Mr. Tooner", he's a
disgrace.  Anybody want to send him some brochures from that truck driving
school??

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net