Altenburg/Samick grand action problems

[Mike McCoy]

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Well, I went back out there this weekend because the son had a =
performance coming up and couldn't practice. This time it was 6 very =
slow jacks and the only thing that helped was pulling the pins and =
running a Mannino burnisher through the bushings. The pin plating looked =
fine under a magnifier. Also, almost all of the hammer flanges are slow =
again to the point that I had to do the same with a few of the worst =
offenders, and these had Protek treatments a number of times previously, =
I wasn't about to do all of them until someone agrees to pay but I felt =
better about doing the right thing for the customer.
 No one was home at Samick when I called. Talked to the salesman again =
and he informed me that Samick has nothing to do with it, when Altenburg =
puts their name on it they assume the warranty supposedly. He told me =
that when they send in their "special techs" they sometimes will lay a =
heater bar on the action for a few days then sell and install a =
Dampp-Chaser system and that takes care of the problem.... and I thought =
I was a special Tech! So it was clear to me that I would not be called =
to go back there again and I'm not likely to be paid, that I can deal =
with but I'm concerned about what is really going on with this action. =
Does any of this make sense???

Thanks!

Mike
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Nichols=20
  To: Mike McCoy ; Pianotech=20
  Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 9:03 PM
  Subject: Re: Altenburg/Samick Grand action problems


  Mike,
      There is a temporary deadlock, for sure, but one of the things you =
need to watch for is the mistaken assumption about who is responsible =
for the warranty. There are as many different "dealer agreements" =
between suppliers and dealers as there are brand names. Maybe more.=20

     Give an estimate, or not, of the cost of repairing defects, and =
advise the customer to seek satisfaction from the dealer. The customer =
may need to get legal or semi-legal assistance. State attorney general =
down to local Chamber, BBB, or Arbitration board. Don't do any more work =
without a solid assurance of payment.

  Just my 2=A2

  Guy Nichols, RPT

  At 04:16 PM 1/3/2003 -0500, you wrote:

    Hi List,
    =20
     Subject: 3 yr old Otto Altenburg grand made by Samick. Cust has =
been complaining of "sticking keys" and keys "not bouncing" since new. I =
am the 3rd tech involved. Previous techs have done the Proteck thing =
without having found anything specific wrong and have been trying to =
sell a Dampp-Chaser, so I'm told by the cust and dealer. The player is a =
13 yr old boy who plays VERY well.
     I did find VERY sluggish hammer and extremely sluggish wippen =
flanges to the point that most had to be re-pinned and a few wip flanges =
had severe wood binding. Temp was 71deg and humidity was 42%. I charged =
the dealer for the work.=20
     Two weeks pass and she called me again stating it is a single key =
"not bouncing", I asked her to have her son mark the offending key, =
which he did and it was failing when I arrived. The problem was a =
severely tight jack/flange.. it was taking 1-3 minutes for the jack to =
get back under the knuckle, again, pinning was not the issue but a wood =
binding problem. All was well. I didn't charge anyone this trip. Temp =
70deg, humidity 43%.
     Today she called back again, 3 weeks later, with the same issue, =
different keys. The dealer made it clear to me last time they would not =
put any more money into this piano so I told the cust I would be happy =
to fix the offenders or take the action home but I would have to charge =
for it this time. She told me it had a lifetime warranty and the dealer =
would have to pay me.
    =20
     So... as I se it, this is a piano that was not right from day one =
and the action or the piano should be replaced or at least the dealer =
needs to pay whatever it takes to make it right but they don't want to =
do that.
     Is this a common Samick problem? I know you get what you pay for =
but she paid for a working piano and it doesn't.
    =20
    Thanks folks!
    =20
    Mike
    =20
    Mike McCoy RPT
    Chapters 170 & 190 PTG
    Langhorne, Pa
    mailto:mjmccoyrpt@earthlink.net
Mike McCoy RPT
Chapters 170 & 190 PTG
Langhorne, Pa
mailto:mjmccoyrpt@earthlink.net=

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