<!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 6.00.2800.1141" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE>@font-face { font-family: Wingdings; } @font-face { font-family: Tahoma; } @page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 } </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue> <DIV>I = had a Baldwin dealer call me (back in the Baldwin Baldwin days) and ask me to go = look at a new Chickering grand on which the una corda wasn't working. He told me = it would be a warranty job. Okay, says I, and I drive 40 miles to the = customer. Turns out to be just an adjustment of the pedal collar. Time on = site, 5-10 minutes. Baldwin told me they wouldn't pay for it as it should have been = handled as dealer prep or at delivery and setup. Dealer does not understand the = term "dealer prep," or much else about the piano business. He paid me, eventually, but it all became a stupid hassle. Let's just say I won't do = any more calls for him. He lost his Baldwin contract in the switchover (many = small dealers did) and now sells Wal-Mart Pianos, i.e., Made in China.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My = point: I don't get much dealer work and almost no warranty repairs out here, but what = little I've seen and stories I've heard suggest that neither is really worth = much to my business.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>How = does that notion fit in with the experience of others? How about you = city-slickers? Is it better in a bigger new-piano market?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Alan Barnard</DIV> <DIV>Country-Slicker in Salem, MO</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: = pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Jonathan Finger Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 10:02 PM To: 'Pianotech' Subject: RE: Baldwin = warantee </DIV> <DIV class=Section1> Yeah, read = a post about that a couple months back. Legally, I = can’t think of any reason that Gibson would be liable for = Baldwin’s = work.  We might wish that they would stand behind the piano, but they bought the = factory, not baldwin’s = problems.  And certainly if they’re going to turn the business around, = they’re going to need to cut costs, not incur them.   I = don’t like it, but it makes perfect sense.  I wouldn’t have expected anything = less. J     Jonathan = Finger RPT   -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of PatchWick@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 = 6:49 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Baldwin warantee   Hey list: I = recently was called to tune a 10 year old Baldwin console. Turns out that the pin = block is totally separated from the frame (end to end and top to bottom). The = frame posts are all loose at the top as well. The local Baldwin dealer = checked with the factory (now owned by Gibson) to see if they would replace/repair = this piano under the original warantee. Turns out that not only will they = NOT honor this warantee but that the warantees on all the brand new Baldwins on = his sales floor were null and void as well. Any = thoughts? Thanks will wickham</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>