<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16640" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I tell the owner that on the first trip, I will make it 'operational'.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Then they should make a list of what bothers them, and I will give them an estimate of cost to make the repair. </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I also inform them, of how much of  a difference the repair will make, toward their expectations.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Some times I will say, just to do necessary repairs, while they look for another piano.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Some owners can only afford the 'clunker's they have, so I feel I have to help them.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I have mainly a 'rural' clientele, and not the 'elite' of the playing public, as others on the list seem to have. </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>In a lot of cases these people have had a struggle to come up with the $200-$500 to buy a piano in the first place.  Therefore $100s to bring it up to the optimum is not an option. </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Think minimum wage.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>My whole Province/ State does not even have a million people.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>John Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></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=mkurta@roadrunner.com href="mailto:mkurta@roadrunner.com">Michael Kurta</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, April 10, 2008 12:00 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Clunker pianos - what do you do?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    On older pianos needing lots of work, I'll often tell the customer, "We'll pitch raise and tune today, and maybe repair the most pressing need.  Next visit, we'll do further work and bit by bit, we'll bring this piano back to good playability."  Seems to appeal to most piano owners when faced with many costly repairs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>