A Business Dilemma

[Farrell]

Sorry to hear of your situation Paul. I have a few comments below:

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: <Yardarm103669107@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 9:01 PM
Subject: A Business Dilemma


> Dear Folks:
>
> I encountered a strange circumstance recently which may or may not have
> bearing on all of our one-on-one dealer relationships, as well as
> chapter/dealer relationships. It involves only myself and no other
technician
> as far as I know, yet.
>
> For years, I have referred people to Fandrich Pianos at the DePaul Music
Mart
> (absolutely no business relationship with Del and Barbara Fandrich) both
to
> look for pianos and as a place of business for which I had a modicum of
> respect. At one time, actually, I happily agreed to a request by Ed
Richards
> for him to use space in our shop to prep a piano for a show at McCormick
> Place; he used space in our shop for about a week for this purpose. At
other
> times, I have looked at pianos for clients at their store, and in all
cases
> but one, advised the clients that the pianos were satisfactory; so far as
I
> know, deals were made.
>
> Recently, a client called me to look at an Everett console at the Fandrich
> store. I called and spoke with Jim, their sales person, and made an
> appointment several days in advance to go down to the store and examine
the
> piano; my client had already been there to see it. The night before I was
to
> go down, both my client and I were left messages that the appointment had
to
> be cancelled. When I spoke with my client that next day, he told me that
he
> had been told that I was not welcome in the Fandrich Piano store because I
> had "blown a deal on a Steinway for them", that, "because he sells
pianos",
> he (I) had disrecommended the transaction. When I called the store, I
spoke
> to Jim, the sales person who said that he was acting on orders from Ed
> Richards; when pressed about the reason, he was unclear about why, and
became
> quite insulting in the process. I had asked for him to ask Ed to call me
at
> his first opportunity, but as yet (a week later), I have not heard from
him.
>
> As you may or may not know, I (we--Oksana and I) do not buy or sell
pianos.
> All of our business is by contract, although we at one time experimented
with
> rebuilding speculatively (not at the time of all of this). When I looked
at
> the Steinway at Fandrich for a client, we were not selling anything
> ourselves, and had we been, I would have recused myself from such an
> appraisal as a conflict of interest. I advised the client in that case
that
> the piano was good, but at the very highest end of the price range and so
> should be excellent. I never heard again from him or what the results of
his
> dealing with Fandrich were.
>
> I had encouraged my current client (for the Everett) to go ahead and think
> about it seriously since it was a good price fit and a good use-fit for
his
> kids (if the piano was any good, as I expected it to be given my prior
> experience with Fandrich). My client had already gone out of his way to go
> down to Fandrich and look at the piano. My client has decided, only on the
> basis of what had happened and through no persuasion from me, not to deal
> with Fandrich and to look elsewhere.
>
> This situation, although an insult to a customer and disconcerting to me,
> leads me to a few observations of a broader nature, which you may or may
not
> be inclined to think about for yourself, or for your chapter.
>
> 1) If techicians cannot neutrally evaluate pianos for clients in a store
> setting, then there is a problem. This neutrality is important on both
sides
> of the coin, technician and dealer. We very strongly recommend that buyers
> have us look at pianos prior to purchase because of the complexity of the
> instruments and all of the other factors involved in piano transactions.
Is
> Fandrich pianos going to make such exclusions a common practice, or decide
> whom they like and don't like based on whether the technician always
> recommends a transaction. Should we now become wary of being honest?

Easy to feel that way, but just maintain confidence that you did the right
thing, and do it again, if appropriate. I always say - "I call 'em as I see
'em".

> How should we need to posture ourselves?

Only in the usualy way - professional, confident, knowledgable, etc.

> As the client in this matter said to
> me in an email, "I believe that, as a neutral technician seeking to
operate
> in this market, you have a legitimate gripe that should be aired for your
> sake and for the sake of all technicians who want to provide clients with
> honest evaluations of pianos."
>
> 2) If our chapter arranges to have a chapter meeting at Fandrich (or any
> dealer), and Ed Richards (or any dealer) specifically excludes one member
of
> the chapter from coming into the store, what position does this put the
> chapter in?

If I were a member of your chapter, I would make a motion real quick to move
the meeting!

> Just so you know, as well, I sent a copy of this email to Ed at Fandrich
last
> week so that he might have a chance to respond one on one and keep this
> personally between us; I had asked that he recant his story of the events
and
> apologize for the slander regarding my behavior and for the unprofessional
> manner in which he dealt with my client. He sent back the letter
unaccepted
> and unopened. Ed is also a member of the PTG (associate in the Waukegan
> Chapter); while there is obvious recourse to us through the ethics
committee
> and the disciplinary code, I and Oksana choose not to take this path.

What a shame. Maybe the guy is going through some real terrible personal
stuff or something. No excuse for what you have seen, but hey, it takes all
kinds. I would recommend to just stay your ground and uphold your own
personal high standards. What goes around, comes around. Good luck.

> I am quite baffled by all of this. I would welcome any comment or
> recommendations on future business dealings from any one of you. I have
tried
> to do my business as faithfully as I can, and to make ethical judgments as
> well as I can.
>
> Regards all.
>
> Paul Revenko-Jones