No Subject

[Clyde Hollinger]

Tom,

I don't see an ethical problem here.  To keep yourself out of hot water, it would
be good to warn the client of potential problems.

Someone called me earlier this week, wanting to buy bridle straps.  He wasn't as
knowledgeable as your client and just wanted to come by and pick up a set.  He
didn't know whether he needed clips or corks and didn't know about the different
sizes of corks.  Before you know it you're spending a lot of time telling this
guy how to do the job, and he doesn't expect to pay for the advice.  That
generally rubs me the wrong way; I'm not set up to be a parts retailer.

But unethical?  I don't think so.

Regards, Clyde

Tvak@AOL.COM wrote:

> I got a call from a lady this week.  She had a 1923 Wurlitzer player piano.
> She informed me that the piano needed new bridle straps, and that many of the
> hammer butt springs were not in place,but she wanted to do the work herself
> and asked me if I would sell her some bridle straps, and if there was a tool
> she could buy to get the butt springs back in place.  Also, there were also
> several keys that she could not depress or play, and needed someone to fix
> them for her.  So I made an appointment to come out and fix the "frozen"
> keys.
> I found it unusual that a client would know the correct terminology for
> various parts of the action.  When I came to look at the piano, I found she
> had a copy of the REBLITZ book on piano repair. She was absolutely correct in
> that the piano needed new bridle straps and that several hammer butt springs
> were not in place.  I repositioned the hammer butt springs for her.  The
> "frozen" keys were a result of the jacks being lodged under the hammer butts
> (she had removed and then replaced the action with many broken bridle straps,
> resulting in the jacks being lodged there) so I tripped them out into their
> correct position, thereby "fixing" them.  I then quoted her a price on
> replacing the bridle straps, but she was very interested in doing the bridle
> straps herself.  So I decided to sell her a set of bridle straps, and showed
> her how to go about removing the old bridle straps and install a new set of
> cork-tipped bridle straps.  I charged her for the work I had done and for the
> set of bridle straps and went home.  (She had also, by the way, replaced the
> old felt front key rail punchings with new felt purchased at a fabric store,
> cutting them into circles and punching holes in them herself!  Quite the
> self-starter.)
>
> My question regards the ethics of this situation.  Having only been in the
> newsgroup about 3 months now, I have come to respect the opinions of so many
> of you---what is your collective take on this situation?  Should I have
> refused to supply her with the bridle straps?  She could easily break a
> wippen flange, or a jack.  Then again, she'd call me to come fix it for her.
> I don't know...I'm just curious as to what any of you might have done in this
> situation.
>
> Tom S.
> Chicago Area