Old upright-Honesty-Lost business= ok?

[Leslie Bartlett]

"A person gains a high reputation for the work he does and for the work he
chooses not to do." Don't even know where I heard that, but I have passed on
several jobs because I could not in good conscience take hundreds of dollars
to do band-aid work, and was not willing to ask them for the many thousands
of dollars necessary to completely rebuild the piano.  There comes a time
when the old things really do have to be called what they are and be
respectfully buried like all machines which finally just wear out.......
JMO
les bartlett

   _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dave Smith
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 9:14 PM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Old upright-Honesty-Lost business= ok?


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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