Old upright-Honesty-Lost business= ok?

[Dave Smith]

I spent almost an hour with a family with an 1917 old upright of questionable worth.  They had spent 200$ for it and had already developed a family heimloom type attachment.  "Fix it -  make it sing again - dont worry about the cost -  as long as we can pay for it in installments."  I believe the previous technician was maybe more salesman than tech.  He had told them that once he was done, they would need a rider on their home owners insurance policy. for the piano.  The previous tech had replaced a few broken strings, fixed a few broken hammer shanks and "TUNED" the piano  He also had suddenly left town, and they called me.  

These were really nice people and I wanted to help them, but.......The piano was over one and a half notes flat, most hammers bobbled, blow distance was at least a half inch too much, etc.  Hammers hard as rocks, and dampers shot.  The sustain indicated that the sb was ok but marginal.  I tried to explain that the piano was old and tired, and that although I could certainly improve it, that it wasn t a good investment.    Needs hammers, dampers, regulation, key bushings, and probably  numerous yet undiagnosed action parts fixed.    They asked me why I was so negative, and I said that I just wanted to be realistic about the outcome after they spent all this money.  Recommended they consider a new or at least newer piano.    But their zeal won me over.  I agreed to do an estimate and come back later this week to to multiple pitch raises and a tuning, hopefully not breaking multiple strings in the process.   I received a call late this evening from the mother, saying that they had talked it over and decided that they thought I might be too negative on their piano.  I said I understood, and recommended that they call other techs in the area, including Mr Bondi for a second opinion.

I would have liked to try to make this piano better, but I didnt want to disappoint.  Reputation over $$?    Can anyone out there make me feel either better or worse for "losing this business"?

Dave Smith
SW FL
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