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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kerry; I like what you say. I amen that
whole-heartedly.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's up to the technician to know when to call a
halt and advise the client to not go any further. It up to the client to accept
that advice.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gerald McCleskey RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>-- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kkean@neo.rr.com href="mailto:kkean@neo.rr.com">Kerry</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 1:15
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Clunker pianos - what do you
do?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">My take on this is
that it’s easier to feel satisfied with the results of your labor when you’re
working on a fine grand piano, so if you have the kind of clientele that
allows you to turn down anything else, more power to ya. For most of us,
there’s a balance involved and I find that satisfaction (for both me and the
customer) comes from setting realistic expectations and goals and then
communicating them effectively. If a piano is beyond reasonable repair, or is
not suitable for the task at hand (I’m kind of hard on parents who expect
their kids to learn on a piece of junk), I’m not shy about declaring it beyond
fixing. Beyond that, I think the most important thing is to find the point of
diminishing return for any old piano at which the customers get tangible
results for their money (and understand what they’re NOT getting) and I can
feel happy that I’ve given them good value.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">(Maybe part of
this comes from working at a university for so long, where I faced the same
instruments, good and bad, year after year. Back in private business now, it’s
a relief to at least confront different clunkers every day ;-)
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Kerry
Kean<BR></SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">
<HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
Michelle Smith [mailto:michelle@smithpianoservice.com] <BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Wednesday, April 09, 2008 11:25
PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> '<st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Pianotech List</st1:PersonName>'<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Clunker pianos - what do you
do?</SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Hi
all. I have to admit that I’m pretty tired of old clunker pianos.
Hammers are shot, strings are beginning to break, parts are failing left and
right, and the pinblock was done quite a while ago. The problem is that
many people in my area can’t afford anything better and there’s no one else in
my county to work on these old pianos. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">I’m
curious how many of you refuse to work on clunkers anymore. Every time I
work on one I tell myself it is my last! =)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">Michelle
Smith<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">Smith
Piano Service<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">Bastrop</SPAN></FONT></st1:City><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">,
<st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State></SPAN></FONT></st1:place><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Calibri size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>