this property is condemned...what would you have done?

[Dean May]

If you bought a new car and the paint started peeling off a fender you would
not get a new car, even though it is impossible to get a factory perfect
finish anywhere but the factory. You would get a fender repainted. That is
the way warranties work.

 

This does not sound like a "severe" problem to me at all. It sounds like an
extremely solvable problem that any tech worth his salt can fix. The holes
are a little big. Put some oversize pins in. The piano will function as
normal for decades, yea even a century or more. There is no downside to the
customer, mfr and dealer expenses are reduced (keeping prices lower for
everyone) and the tech makes a little money on warranty work. It's all good.

 

If the oversize pins are still loose (indicating some kind of crack) then we
may have a severe problem. But in my limited experience I have never seen
such a thing on a new piano made in the last 30 years. 

 

If a piano cannot be fixed to function, that is when you look to do
exchanges. 

 

Reading the responses would lead me to believe that nobody does warranty
work on new pianos. 

 

Dean

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Robin Blankenship
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 1:45 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: this property is condemned...what would you have done?

 

Avery,

 

Ditto. I worked for a couple of years for a very well known and large east
coast piano retail chain and saw them have to "eat" several brand new grands
of various makes simply because there was a gross tech problem up front with
the piano. In one or two cases, that retail company stopped carrying certain
brands because of that very thing. A piano IS or IS NOT of an acceptable
level of quality and consistency coming out of the factory. If not, then it
is the manufacturer's problem. This particular problem sounds like a very
severe one. Work-arounds at this level of issue and at this stage of the
piano's life are just not a smart way to proceed. 

 

IMTCWOHM (In my two cents' worth of humble opinion)

 

Robin Blankenship

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Avery <mailto:avery1 at houston.rr.com>  

To: Pianotech List <mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>  

Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 1:15 PM

Subject: RE: this property is condemned...what would you have done?

 

William, 

As far as I'm concerned, that isn't the point! The point is that a 3 month
old piano has loose tuning pins. Whatever the reason! And in that case, the
manufacturer should replace it! I'm personally not going to "cover anyones
ass" here! It's their fault and they should have to deal with it/accept the
loss/whatever! Just my opinion! 

Avery 

At 10:16 AM 9/21/2006, you wrote:



Having worked in that position, any piano you can save will save you a store
contract and a supplier pat on the back.  No one makes money if the piano
has to go back.  
 
William
 
 
 
 
PIANO BOUTIQUE
William Benjamin
Piano Tuner Extraordinaire
www.pianoboutique.biz
The tuner alone,
preserves the tone.
 


  _____  


From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [ mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org
<mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org> ] On Behalf Of Dean May
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 12:11 AM
To: 'Pianotech List'
Subject: RE: this property is condemned...what would you have done?
 
I doubt there are structural problems. Probably the drill bit got dull on
the bottom row and made the holes a little larger. It can probably be fixed
just fine with oversize pins on the ones that are loose. 
 
Pianos with extremely hard pin blocks have very little tolerance for
variation in hole size or variation in pin size. If the hole gets a little
large or the pin a little small on the tolerance side the pin will be loose.
It does not mean there is a structural problem. Given the modern piano
designer's propensity to use too many laminations it is extremely unlikely
that there is a structural problem in the pin block. 
 
Talk to the tech support person of the manufacturer. They will probably have
an established protocol. The trick will be in what you have already
communicated to the customer. If you have already prepped the customer to
expect nothing less than a new piano, then that is probably the only thing
that will satisfy them. On the other hand if you communicate that the mfr
will solve the problem you will probably have netted yourself an easy re-pin
job.
 
Dean
 


  _____  


From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [ mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org
<mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org> ] On Behalf Of piannaman at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:36 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: this property is condemned...what would you have done?
 
 Just got home from a client's home.  She just purchased a piano around 3
months ago, and I was contracted by the store to do a warranty tuning.
While raising the pitch, I noticed a couple of loose tuning pins...then
another, another, another, etc.  All along the bottom row of pins.  
 
I called the owner of the store--a good friend of mine, btw--and told him
that the piano should be returned to the factory in exchange for a sound
instrument, as it is structurally unsound, and that any repair done to it
would be unsuitable to undertake in the customer's home.
 
What thinketh y'all?  
 
 


  _____  


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