Old upright-Honesty-Lost business= ok?

[Michelle Smith]

Hi Dave.  I'm still fairly new to the tuning world but not to music.  It's
weird how attached and unrealistic people become about their pianos and I
was very guilty of this until I stepped into the piano tech world.
Concerning the negativity, I can see in a customer's face when I have
insulted their precious piano and recently have tried harder to find
something positive to say in addition to the negative.  It's a necessary
part of being a salesperson, like it or not.

 

Because we have a ton of old uprights in my little town I've started doing
consultations where the following occurs:

 

1.	visit with the owner about their musical needs
2.	look over the instrument and make notes
3.	provide a written summary of the items that need work, the
approximate cost of each item, and the order in which they should be
accomplished.  

 

Then I collect my consultation fee, go home, and let them think about it.
If they're serious about the instrument, they'll call you back.  If not,
you've saved yourself from trying to resurrect a dying instrument.

 

Have a good one!

 

Michelle Smith

Bastrop, Texas

 

  _____  

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

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20060925/3327d8db/attachment.html