Piano Store Check-in List

[Avery]

Hi Diane,

I'm SO glad the dealer I do some work for isn't like that! He want's 
them right and he pays whatever I charge. Plus, usually some extra!!!!!!!

Avery

P.S. That will be nice once I retire from the university the end of May! :-)

At 02:11 PM 1/15/2007, you wrote:
>Rex,
>
>I worked for 13 months for a Yamaha store that was in the process of 
>being sold.  During that time I had 4 different managers and 14 
>different salesmen (they came and went) telling me what to do to 
>prep the pianos.
>
>What I learned is that it is far more important to prep them 
>according to who the boss is.  That went all the way from the first 
>manager who told me: "Do whatever it takes, I want them right", to 
>the last manager who suddenly sent me 40 miles south to a piano that 
>still had it's tie-down sticks in the action. He had told us, "Only 
>one tuning per piano (out of the box)."
>
>The only thing I absolutely couldn't stomach was to leave the badly 
>ringing dampers on the Chinese grand as they were.  According to 
>that manager, who is also a technician and a store owner in his own 
>right, "No one listens to the dampening when they look at a 
>piano!"  Then he proceeded to play hard, fast and loud to prove his 
>point. (I fixed them when he wasn't looking).
>
>It's sad that only one out of four managers allowed his technicians 
>to do what they knew was right for the piano--and he's the one who 
>lost his bid to buy the store!
>
>Diane
>
>
>Diane Hofstetter
>
>
>
>
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: "Rex Roseman" <rosemanpiano at netzero.net>
>Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
>To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
>Subject: RE: Piano Store Check-in List
>Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:08:15 -0500
>
>David
>
>
>
>Thanks for the encouraging reply. I will definitely take your advice
>about collecting manufacture information and talking to the owners.
>Piano tuning/repairing has been part of my life since 1980, and I have
>decided that it's time to be more focused on that part of my life; thus
>joining the Guild, working toward the exams, getting on email lists,
>ect.
>
>
>
>To give you some information about what the store works with, we have
>mostly new Boston and Kohler and Campbell (all there various brands)
>with some Baldwin pianos (various brands again) from a buy out of a
>closing of another piano store. The store also handles Steinways, but
>has a person that is responsible for only those pianos. I sometimes see
>the Essex pianos. (We have two stores and the stock is split between
>them.)
>
>
>
>As far as what I have been doing for prep work, the sales people have
>been concerned that the pianos are tuned and the pedals work properly.
>During the tuning, if I see or hear anything that is not correct, I
>repair it. For repairs, I can get away with up to about an hours worth
>of work and just add it to the bill. If there is something that needs
>parts or is major, it has to go through warranty and I write a quote.
>
>
>
>I have developed a set of 5 page excel spreadsheets that list every part
>and every adjustment for each piano type and I use that when I go into a
>house to evaluate a piano. I think that this is overkill for a new
>piano, but I want to add to what the sales people have requested so that
>I can be sure that the customer and the tuner/tech in the field will be
>satisfied with the instruments coming out to our stores.
>
>
>
>My frustration is that people keep complaining about the poor
>preparation of new pianos, but never say what they are seeing so that I
>can be sure to check it in the ones that I work on.
>
>
>
>The other part of my job is all the used trade-ins. I approach that from
>a totally different perspective, evaluating them as if they were a
>private piano and giving the store a quote as to what work needs to be
>done. They will then decide how much they can afford to put into the
>piano and let me know what repairs to complete.
>
>
>
>Thanks again for the input.
>
>
>
>Rex
>
>Roseman Piano Tuning
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