A Business Dilemma

[David Love]

Paul:

I have been in the position on several occasions of "killing" a deal.  Each
time I was hired by an individual (my tuning customer) to evaluate a piano
they wanted to buy.  For this service they paid me a fee.  For that fee I am
obliged to provide and honest and thorough assessment of the instrument.  In
each case there were problems with the piano that had not been disclosed to
the buyer.  Most of the problems involved either soundboard defects, poor
action work, misrepresentations of pianos having been "totally rebuilt" with
a corresponding price, etc..

Though the seller is under no legal obligation to disclose problems, neither
should they be shocked or disappointed if a technician, under obligation to
their customer, gives an honest report.  Ironically, most of the time that
the sellers have been miffed are times when the piano was obviously
misrepresented or grossly overpriced.  The sellers could avoid these
problems if they communicated all the relevant information on an instrument
and priced it accordingly.   I would not necessarily reject a piano with
some problems if those problems were reflected in the price.  I don't wish
to deny any dealer a fair profit but to demand I should compromise my
principles and/or obligation to my client, and to hang a threat over me of
trashing my reputation unless I cooperate with their sale speaks volumes
about their business ethics and personal character.   In short, I wouldn't
do business with them and I wouldn't worry about it.  Businesses like this
tend to dig their own graves.

If the dealer is a member of the guild and is slandering you, then I think
the local chapter should respond in accordance with the bylaws and revoke
his membership.

David Love
----- Original Message -----
From: <Yardarm103669107@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: October 04, 2001 6:01 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?
> How should we need to posture ourselves? 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?
>
> 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.
>
> 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