ethics question

[RicB]

What to do it right.  Its not a matter of ethics really... I mean you 
know that you SHOULD tell the customer where the instrument stands.  25 
lbs of torque is NOT IMHO acceptable in a 1 year old piano.  The 
customer should be informed that he has an instrument with a defect that 
should be covered by warranty and will in the very near future require 
at least a repinning job.

On the other hand... you might have to face the reality that your dealer 
will not be pleased with your action and shy away from using you.... 
What to do.

One solution which immediatly comes to mind is to right a very topical 
to the point description of the condition of the piano "at the request 
of the owner" (who you of course agree with as to this approach ahead of 
time) and send a copy to both him and the dealer... thereby putting the 
owner and the dealer in direct position with each other and removing 
yourself from further responsibilities in the matter.

Let them take it from there and leave it at that.... if your dealer 
questions you about things just tell him you had attempted to contact 
the tech head on the matter on 2 occasions and that his predecessor had 
been informed and done nothing about it and now your customer was 
getting on your case about the matter... which can be explained away in 
a number of fashions.... like for example the customer <<noticing>> it 
took you a longer then normal time to tune the piano... or whatever.

Be creative, keep on as positive and neutral ground as you can... but 
let the customer know.

Cheers
RicB




List
   
  What to do, what to do...
   
  A client has a new Essex grand, purchased less than a year ago.  The 
local Steinway dealer assigned me the freebie first tuning on the piano 
which I performed almost 6 months ago.  At this point, the client is now 
mine.
   
  At that first tuning I was alarmed to find that most of the tuning 
pins were way too loose.  I'm not being picky here; I wasn't sure if the 
piano would even hold the tuning when I left.  So I called the head of 
the tech dept. at the dealer to inform him about the loose pins.  
   
  He told me that I needed to measure the torque with a torque wrench so 
that they had some concrete figures to back up my assertion.  He wanted 
me to get some measurements without alarming the client, which I was 
able to do.  He seemed to indicate that he would have the piano replaced 
if the torque readings were unacceptable.
   
  All the pins measure less than 25 pounds of torque.  Many were less 
than 15 pounds.  I reported back to the head techie at the dealer and 
did not hear of any further developements.  I did not share any of this 
with the owner.
   
  Last week the owner of the piano called to get it tuned again, so I 
went yesterday and retuned the piano.  My last tuning actually held just 
fine.  The piano was about 10 to 15 cents low, not at all unusual at 
this time of year, let alone on a new piano with stretching strings.  
   
  The pins are just as loose as ever.  You can't overpull a string and 
ease it back down, because it'll just slip all the way down a half step 
or so.  You have to pull it up to pitch and let go  V  E   R   Y       
G   E   N   T   L  Y.   This is a technique that we have all perfected 
after years of working on 75 year old Gulbransens, not pianos less than 
a year old.
   
  So my ethical dilemma is this:  Should I tell the client that the 
tuning pins are too loose for a new piano?  The dealer may have given me 
the client, but the client is mine now.  I feel that I owe them my 
honest opinions on things, and my opinion is that this piano is 
defective.  Of course, no one has actually asked for my opinion about 
the piano, so I'd be the one who started all this trouble if it comes to 
that.  (I don't really do much work for the dealer any more, so I don't 
think I have that much to risk, personally, business-wise, but of 
course, I'd rather not alienate the only Steinway dealer in Chicagoland!)
   
  And after all, the piano is fine right now.  It will hold a tuning, 
even if I have to be a little careful while doing it.  How many years 
will it be before these loose pins become so loose that it won't hold a 
tune?  I don't know, but certainly much sooner than any new piano 
should.  It seems unethical to allow the client to be blissfully unaware 
that in a year, or two or ten, this piano may need a new pinblock.  They 
have a warranty now, and since this situation is only marginally 
acceptable now and will only get worse, they should take care of it 
sooner rather than later.
   
  There is a new head of the tech department at the dealer.  I have 
called him twice and he hasn't returned my calls yet.  Of course, I 
won't do anything until I talk to him, but in the meantime, the ethics 
of the situation seemed worthy of discussion.
   
  What do you all think?  What would you do?  
   
  I look forward to your sage advice,
  Tom Sivak
  Chicago