One thing that you should point out to your customer is the difference in the country of origin-where is the piano made. Put it on context of other products they buy; There was a write up in the Phila. Inquirier the other week on one of the Korean car companies - (Hyundai I believe) entry into the luxury car niche, going up against Lexus, Acura, etc. The author said that Hyundai was trying to out-compete the Japanese makers-the car had leather seats, side impact air bags, etc. all at a price well below Lexus or Acura. In the final analysis he said he would personally prefer to own a lower grade Japanese car like a Camry than the all out Luxury version from Hyundai. Cars aren't pianos but there are some parallels in where both are made. J.D. Power & Associates lowest customer satisfaction rating for cars was for a Korean car (Kia or Hyundai-I forget which one); whereas the Japanese cars were among the highest. Bottom line in pianos. The average Mr. or Mrs. going into their local piano stores shopping for piano can buy a bigger piano for less money if it's from Korea, China, or Estonia. Just like a car, VCR or other item, it's also important to look at how well the thing is designed, built and how the track record on service is. For home use, the Korean pianos can be an "ok" purchase, but point out these differences to them and encourage them to take this into the mix. You may also want to point out the fact that a grand piano is a usually a once in a lifetime purchase. 10-20 years from now the cost difference will seem negligible. I have yet to run into a piano tech who services a Korean or Russian made grand in a heavy use situation like a school or college that is real thrilled with how they're holding up. Yamaha's on the other hand... -- Glenn Grafton Grafton Piano & Organ Co. 1081 County Line Rd. Souderton PA 18964 http://www.graftonpiano.com/ glenn@graftonpiano.com 800-272-5980 The box said "Requires Windows 95, or better." So I bought a Macintosh.
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