<!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 6.00.5730.11" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tom,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, who gets to have move contact with the
customer from here on out...you or the store?? Who gets to influence and inform
more customers and potential customers from here on out.... you or the store??
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For a new piano, this is absolutely unacceptable.
Period. Your rep as a tech is more about the piano and little about the brand,
the store, etc. The tuning pins are not going to tighten up on their own.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I rather imagine that your customer in this case is
already aware of something going on. I would level with them. They may be "your"
customer in terms of service calls; but, the piano is and will be under warranty
for some time to come....the warranty to be backed up by either the store or the
manufacturer. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Major defects can happen on any brand or model
piano. S&S may be unbelievable arrogant but I do not believe they are
totally stupid as well. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In my opinion, you work with the customer to give
the store a chance to make things right. If that doesn't happen, go to Steinway.
Beyond that, then there are legal remedies. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gee, Tom, and you thought that tuning pianos was
just about tuning pianos!!!! LOL. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Keep us posted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robin Blankenship</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">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=tvaktvak@sbcglobal.net href="mailto:tvaktvak@sbcglobal.net">Tom
Sivak</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, December 29, 2006 2:31
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> ethics question</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>List</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What to do, what to do...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A client has a new Essex grand, purchased less than a year ago. The
local Steinway dealer assigned me the freebie first tuning on the piano
which I performed almost 6 months ago. At this point, the client is now
mine.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At that first tuning I was alarmed to find that most of the tuning pins
were way too loose. I'm not being picky here; I wasn't sure if the piano
would even hold the tuning when I left. So I called the head of the tech
dept. at the dealer to inform him about the loose pins. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>He told me that I needed to measure the torque with a torque wrench so
that they had some concrete figures to back up my assertion. He wanted
me to get some measurements without alarming the client, which I was able to
do. He seemed to indicate that he would have the piano replaced if the
torque readings were unacceptable.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>All the pins measure less than 25 pounds of torque. Many were less
than 15 pounds. I reported back to the head techie at the dealer and did
not hear of any further developements. I did not share any of this with
the owner. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Last week the owner of the piano called to get it tuned again, so I went
yesterday and retuned the piano. My last tuning actually held
just fine. The piano was about 10 to 15 cents low, not at all unusual at
this time of year, let alone on a new piano with stretching strings.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The pins are just as loose as ever. You can't overpull a string
and ease it back down, because it'll just slip all the way down a half
step or so. You have to pull it up to pitch and let go V
E R Y
G E N T L Y.
This is a technique that we have all perfected after years of working on
75 year old Gulbransens, not pianos less than a year old.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So my ethical dilemma is this: Should I tell the client that the
tuning pins are too loose for a new piano? The dealer may have given me
the client, but the client is mine now. I feel that I owe them my honest
opinions on things, and my opinion is that this piano is defective. Of
course, no one has actually asked for my opinion about the piano, so I'd be
the one who started all this trouble if it comes to that. (I don't
really do much work for the dealer any more, so I don't think I have that much
to risk, personally, business-wise, but of course, I'd rather not alienate the
only Steinway dealer in Chicagoland!)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And after all, the piano is fine right now. It will hold a tuning,
even if I have to be a little careful while doing it. How many years
will it be before these loose pins become so loose that it won't hold a
tune? I don't know, but certainly much sooner than any new piano
should. It seems unethical to allow the client to be blissfully unaware
that in a year, or two or ten, this piano may need a new pinblock. They
have a warranty now, and since this situation is only marginally acceptable
now and will only get worse, they should take care of it sooner rather than
later.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is a new head of the tech department at the dealer. I have
called him twice and he hasn't returned my calls yet. Of course, I won't
do anything until I talk to him, but in the meantime, the ethics of the
situation seemed worthy of discussion.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What do you all think? What would you do? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I look forward to your sage advice,</DIV>
<DIV>Tom Sivak</DIV>
<DIV>Chicago<BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>