A Business Dilemma

[Avery Todd]

List

My policy since being at the University of Houston is to refer any of these
requests to someone else. In my position there, we/I have relationships
with all the major dealers in town and I just don't want to take a chance
of an evaluation on my part causing problems at the school. Call me "chicken"
but in over 8 years, I've had only one slight problem. And that was one where
I went to a home and looked at what turned out to be a Grey Market Yamaha.

There ARE advantages to being employed by a university. :-)

Avery

At 08:20 AM 10/05/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Paul. I had an experience this past spring inspecting a new grand at a
>local dealer. The long bridge was riddled with cracks at the bridge pins in
>the high treble, producing a plethora of prominent false beats. You could
>simply gently press a brass rod to the top of individual pins and the note
>would completely clear up. The dealer leaned over the piano and proclaimed
>"I don't see any cracks, and what you are hearing is the rich, full, Brand X
>sound - many technicians only like that simple Yamaha sound because they are
>easier to tune - but this piano has a sound more rich and much more complex
>than a Yamaha" (each string sounded more like ten trash can lids being
>struck at once, rather than a piano string). Well, some of that may well be
>true, but this particular piano had BAD false beats. The prospective
>purchaser decided against the piano and bought a new M&H instead. I have not
>run across the dealer since then (hey, he was likely busy shipping the piano
>back to the factory???......or maybe not). We sometimes have our chapter
>meetings at that shop. I hope the dude is a bit more level-headed than your
>man from Music Mart. The guy insisted that his piano was A-OK, and I held my
>ground (believe me, with my little experience, I was totally less than
>confident in my own mind). I had to force myself to think totally
>analytically, and understand that I had diagnosed the problem correctly. All
>we can do is call 'em like we see 'em.
>
>In your case it appears that the only thing you did that the dealer has a
>beef with is to be honest with the prospective purchaser about the range of
>prices for similar pianos. You may have covered this with your client, but
>just in case - I usually explain to the client about prices for pianos
>generally being lower in a private sale and higher in a dealer sale. I will
>suggest that the private sale is "as-is" and it is clear that you need to be
>able to evaluate the piano condition - even if the piano does not have
>defects, it may be lacking in routine maintenance. The dealer used piano
>"presumably" has been "gone through" and they will offer some sort of
>limited guarantee if you press them for it (30 days, whatever). Not that
>most dealers do in fact "go through" the piano that I have seen, but that is
>part of the justification of the higher price. If the tech can report of the
>dealer used piano that it is free of defects and is in good regulation,
>etc., such a report may in fact justify a price at the higher end of the
>spectrum.
>
>I have only sold one piano. A 15 year old Kimball stencil spinet (excellent
>condition case, belly, etc.). I bought it for $200 and sold it for $1,300.
>Was the price at the high end of the spectrum? You bet! BUT, I completely
>refelted the keybed (mice?) filed hammers, full key level/dip and
>regulation, brought up to pitch, and a couple tunings in my shop to
>stabilize, and delivered it. I gave the happy new owners two free in-home
>tunings, and a one year guarantee to fix anything that goes wrong with it.
>Did she get a good deal? I think she did just fine. If I were inspecting
>this piano on a dealer's floor at that price, what would I report? I would
>tell the client that the piano is priced way at the top of the range, and
>she/he could find a similar piano in a private sale for perhaps as little as
>$400 (I see 'em all the time). HOPEFULLY, I would also point out that the
>private sale piano may need an inspection, pitch raising, tuning, key
>leveling, regulation, delivery, etc. I think it boils down to whether or not
>the dealer has "gone through" the piano to justify the typically higher
>dealer used piano price.
>
>I could go on and on. I'll just pull the plug here. Just a few thoughts.
>Hope your situation works out.
>
>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?
> > 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