<!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 6.00.2900.2722" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV> I have a somewhat lengthy somewhat off-topic question; I only = ask it to this group because everybody here is some way or other in the music = business. I am an Associate Member who doesn’t do much piano work anymore (got = a full time gig teaching college), but I know that the Guild expects a certain level = of professionalism from its members. I’ve just run into a situation = with another sort of musical instrument repair professional, and I’d like to know if = I’m in the wrong. <?xml:namespace = prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p> I’ll try to convey the facts as objectively as I can. = <o:p> </o:p> After a layoff of over 30 years, I took up the bassoon again = last year, playing in an amateur orchestra. When our season was over I decided to = have my bassoon overhauled by a professional – it had been in a closet for = decades; it seemed to play okay, but I felt it was due for some TLC. I scouted = around on the internet, got a few quotes, and made a decision based on nothing much = more than instinct. The gentleman I chose for the job submitted  in fact the highest quote I = got – maybe I was thinking that that meant = quality; I don’t know. <o:p> </o:p> After some phone tag we finally made contact. I asked him how = long of a waiting list he had, and he = assured me he could get to it right away. No problem. A week or so later I shipped him = my bassoon. <o:p> </o:p> Three weeks or so went by and I heard nothing from him. I sent = him a couple of emails, which went unanswered, and left a couple of phone = messages. I don’t recall the exact sequence of events – maybe he = answered one of my emails and told he was just getting to it, or something like that. At the time = I wasn’t worried, just missing all that practice. <o:p> </o:p> In any case, we finally spoke, and he was very pleasant, said = he was working on it, that it was “just fine, just fine” and that = he’d have it in transit to me within about a week. <o:p> </o:p> After about ten days I tried again to contact him. He = didn’t return my phone calls.   Finally I got an email from him in which he asked for my = address; he said he’d lost it. I was by this time (nearly two months had gone by) = getting a bit anxious, but I was glad to hear that the instrument was going to be on = its way back to me soon. <o:p> </o:p> About a week later I came home from work and found a FedEx = notice on my door. I was so excited about getting my bassoon back that I blew off a = rather important meeting that night and went instead to the local FedEx depot, = where I picked up the package. When I got it home and opened it up it turned out = to be the wrong bassoon. He had sent me somebody else’s. <o:p> </o:p> I contacted him right away by phone and email, and the next day = got back an email saying he’d probably put the wrong shipping label on the = wrong package and that I should deduct the cost of shipping it back from my bill. The = next day I shipped it back to him. Remember = that by this time, roughly two months had gone by since I originally = shipped him my bassoon. When I didn’t hear anything further from him, I = sent him an email (and I think a phone message, too), advising him that for the = summer, I would be in and out of town sporadically, so it was imperative that he = let me know when the package (with my bassoon, this time) be shipped so I can = be sure to be in town to receive it. <o:p> </o:p> About a week or so later I came home to find anther FedEx = notice. Again, I drove out to the FedEx depot and picked up the package. When I took it = home and opened it, it was in fact my horn. <o:p> </o:p> The first thing I noticed was that the luggage tag I’d = put on the case with my name and address was still there. Then I noticed that the four = or five business cards I’d strewn around inside the case were still there. I couldn’t figure = out how he could have misplaced my address. <o:p> </o:p> Then I tried to assemble the instrument. He had replaced the = corks on the tenons, so I had to use a good bit of cork grease, but even then it was = so hard to assemble I was afraid I was going to break a key. I finally got it = put together. When I played it, I found that it was okay – nothing = extraordinary, but maybe it wasn’t in such bad shape to begin with, so maybe the = changes wouldn’t be so startling- except that I couldn’t get the low = b flat, the lowest note on the instrument, to speak. I tried whittling my reeds, dropping = my embouchure, the few tricks I knew, and I could get it to speak = sometimes. I could play a chromatic scale down to low b, but when I hit the b flat = lever, it would just seize up. <o:p> </o:p> When I tried to disassemble the instrument, I found in nearly = impossible. This time I was really sure I was going to break something. Finally I = got it apart (at one point I thought I would have to use a strap wrench, but = brute strength got me through). <o:p> </o:p> Because of time commitments it was another day or so before I = could try it again. I put on more cork grease, had nearly the same trouble, and, = using several different reeds, still could not get the low b flat to speak = with any kind of reliability. Did I mention that before sending it to him the = note worked fine? <o:p> </o:p> So I emailed him. I told him about the problem note. I figured = I would have to cope with the tight fit myself; maybe, I thought, the cork = needed to be worked in or something. <o:p> </o:p> His response was that when I hit the low b flat key, the low b = key probably eased up just enough to leak slightly. His advice was to glue a = tiny sliver of cork onto the key’s spatula. <o:p> </o:p> I wrote him back telling him that I found that unacceptable. I = compared it to getting your car back from a mechanic, finding that it stalled at = every red light, and being told to just take a screwdriver and turn a screw on = the fuel injectors half a turn to the right. <o:p> </o:p> In the same email I told him of my problems assembling and = disassembling the instrument, and I said I had to question whether or not he’d = actually tested the thing after doing the work. I also told him, as politely as I could, = that his quote was the highest I had received but that I’d gone with = him anyway, more or less on faith, and that I felt that we needed to work something out. <o:p> </o:p> Please understand, I was firm in my email, but = I wasn’t trying to insult him. I pointed out the problems and asked for a = resolution of some kind.  I expected = that he would respond with anything from further advice on how to fix the problems, a statement to just give it time and it would work itself out, maybe an = offer to discount the bill at least somewhat, maybe something that implied it was = my fault – anything but what I got.  <o:p> </o:p> What I got was an email stating the he “disagreed with = everything!” I said, and if I felt that way I should just keep my money. His wording = was stronger, though not obscene. He was clearly furious – with = me. <o:p> </o:p> About an hour later he sent another email saying that on second = thought he wanted the cost of one part that he had  installed at my request ($36). = Again, his anger - at me - came through quite = clearly. <o:p> </o:p> I thought about it over the weekend and decided that I should = at least pay him a reasonable fee for parts and labor. A full set of pads and = corks for a bassoon costs about $50 retail, and I know that a skilled craftsperson = can do a complete repad job in a couple of hours, and I also knew that he had = done some other work, so I sent him a check for $300 – half what he was = going to charge me originally. I figured he’d either take it and that would be the = end of the story, or he would get back to me, say that he’d written in haste = and reconsidered and wanted the whole amount, or he would counter-offer in = some way. Just to protect myself, I wrote on the bill (not on the check) that this = was payment in full: full price less shipping of wrong bassoon and estimated = bill to fix low b flat and adjust tenon corks. I suppose that work = wouldn’t really cost $300, but again, I figured that if he wanted,  he could respond in some way = that would leave room to work things out. <o:p> </o:p> Instead, a week later, I got an envelope in the mail. It = contained my check, torn to shreds, and a piece of his stationary with the words = “F**k you!” scrawled across it. <o:p> </o:p> Did I deserve that? Am I in the wrong? Would there have been a = better way for me to handle the situation? <o:p> </o:p> The more I think about it, the more I’ve convinced myself = that I did nothing wrong, and nothing to deserve that kind of response. I’ve = been in business; I know that customers frequently have complaints, some = reasonable, some not, but that as a business person I have to deal with them and try = to come to a win-win solution. = Again I ask: am I wrong? <o:p> </o:p> Should I just chalk it up to one guy’s lack of anger = management? Would the stand-up thing be to send him a check for the full amount of his = bill? (I mean, he did do work on the instrument.)  I feel pretty bad about the = whole affair, and at this point it’s like a sort of bad karma that takes a whole = lot of fun out of playing has invaded my instrument. <o:p> </o:p> Sorry for the length of this, but I’ve tried to give all = pertinent details. You are all professionals I respect. I’d sure appreciate = some thoughts from this group. <o:p> </o:p> Mickey Kessler</DIV></BODY></HTML>