<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Verdana" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Verdana color=#000000 size=3> <DIV> <DIV>Ric,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just catching up, hacking my way through the abundant mail that stacks = up fromm the list, and I read this one.  Sorry for the delay!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My strategy in warranty matters depends on the severity of the problem.  I will always contact the company in question(dealer or manufacturer or both), explain the situation to them, and get authoriza= tion to try to solve the problem myself.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm honest with the customers, and usually try to go to bat for them in= dealing with manufacturer's or dealers.  I will generally not charge an= yone anything if I can't fix the problem.  Fact is, most customers are ill-equipped to explain to a dealer or factory what is wrong with their pianos.  Sometimes, as in the case of a Bergman upright I recently serv= iced that had serious key-weighting issues, the real fix would not be covered by = the piano's warranty.  But then, those aren't Godo pianos, are they...:-)?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Some companies are willing to replace strings--notably, wound bicords i= n the tenor--that are untunable.  Would I bring that to a customer's attention?  Certainly, because otherwise, if the customer has half an e= ar, my tuning capability will be called into question.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've been followed up a couple of times by Bill Spurlock when I couldn'= t deal with an issue at hand(I broke off an e-z out trying to extract a broken= plate screw and didn't know how to get the remaining mess out of the piano.  I ended up getting a valuable lesson in that sort of repair fro= m Bill).  No shame in that for me, though it may have cost me some points= in the customer's eyes.  But I feel that the real issue is wheth= er or not the customer gets what they paid for--a piano that works, in most cases--and whether I get compensation from dealer or manufacturer(depending = on the problem)for insuring that the customer is happy with the product.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There are times when I just have to tell people "you get what you pay for...trade this one up as soon as you can afford it!"  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope this helps some,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dave Stahl</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>.In a message dated 4/3/05 9:42:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time, ricbrek@broadpark.no writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2>Hi folks<BR><BR>In an off list converstation an interesting subject matter ca= me up and I <BR>thought I'd put it to you all and ask your thoughts, then sit= back and <BR>read the responses with out commenting. Just for my own edification.<BR><BR>Many of us have been in the situation where we are servicing a piano <BR>which presents some problems that require some form = of warranty repair <BR>or compensation.  One situation in particular tha= t I think most any tech <BR>who has been in would rather not find themselves i= n again is the case of <BR>a new piano sold which has serious problems that = can not be addressed by <BR>the field technician.  There are a variety of= scenarios that fit the<BR>general case for sure, but one very common denominator is the risk to <BR>the technician for being <<blamed>= > for why the piano does not sound or <BR>perform well. <BR><BR>My own thoug= hts are that if the piano is truly in such a state, then I <BR>call the custom= er in as soon as possible, explain what I believe is the <BR>problem and sugg= est they call the dealer or manufacturer. I want to <BR>involve the tech up th= e ladder right off because if I am convinced the <BR>thing is bad... then I = am not at all intimidated by a tech from the <BR>factory showing up and tryin= g to make the customer happy.  They will <BR>confront the same problem I did.  Sometimes I make this move on my own <BR>inititative... sometim= es it comes up when the customer is checking the <BR>piano out after I am finished, sometimes its on a second visit. Depends <BR>on the problem, how= I judge the customer... etc etc. whether I take <BR>initiative right off. <BR><BR>I would like to hear your various strategies for dealing with the <BR>situation.... how do you go about covering your own butt as it were <BR>whilst attempting to look out for the customers interests and at the <BR>same time keep any negatives with the manufacturere/dealer to a minimum.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR>RicB<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>