<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2912" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>Boy, I see how these posts get kinda misinterpreted after a few rounds.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>In my original post I did elude to the fact that I have run across other similar pianos, and explained to the owners about why I though it might not be worth putting any money into, and then most often they agree that we should not service the piano. In other cases, where I didn't think it was a smart decision to do anything with the piano, but the piano could be tuned, and the owner wanted it tuned, I tuned it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>This was simply the first time someone insisted on tuning a piano that, IMHO, could not be tuned. IMHO, to not tune a piano that can't be tuned is productive - anything else would be unproductive.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>Further, in no way shape or form did I "just walk away and say, "Call someone else" without a careful explanation". I spent at least 20 minutes explaining about regulation (bobbling hammers), rusted strings, loose tuning pins, cracked bridges, etc., etc. And then, because she wanted it (too long to explain why), I vacuumed out the inside of the piano for her. I was there just short of an hour. I drove 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back. I charged her $20.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>She got good advice, a lesson in piano innards, a cleaner piano, a smile, an apology for having to refuse to tune her piano (my professional ethics and standard simply would not allow me to) - a lengthy explanation of why I wouldn't/couldn't tune the piano - all for 20 bucks. A darn good deal IMHO.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>Grrrrrrrr.  <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff size=6>;-)</FONT></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>PS: And Mike, I'm not trying to lecture you - these posts are easy to misinterpret - perhaps I am even misinterpreting yours!</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=Tahoma>----- Original</FONT> Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    David, you had the best take on the situation, making it as easy a pill to swallow for the owner as possible.  To just walk away and say, "Call someone else" without a careful explanation is unproductive.  This can be a real trauma for some folks especially non-musical ones.  Thinking back to a former life as an auto mechanic, in this case I might say its like putting a new paint job on a car that doesn't run.  Then go on to explain that there are more serious problems to be corrected before tuning.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>