<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content='"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=GENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>I have been a RPT for the past 19 = years. Last week I tuned a new customer`s Grand spinet piano. They had bought it = from their church where it had been in storage for no one knew how long. I = measured  pitch with my Sanderson and found A4 15 cents flat of pitch, the treble = 25 cents flat, and high treble almost 1/2 step flat. Minimal rust on strings and = pins reasonably tight, so I raised it to standard pitch , was paid, and left. = A week later my customer calls complaining of a terrible buzz throughout the = piano, so back I go to investigate. I found every single last rib had pulled away = from the soundboard on both ends. I had a good conversation  with the = husband explaining that this condition  is one of the pit falls of buying a = used instrument without having it inspected by a piano tech., and that normal = maintenance such as a pitch raise and tuning did not cause the problem. = Several days later the Lady of the house calls and explains that she has spoken = with another tech.-qualifications unknown- who told her that before any pitch = raise the customer should be warned of the irreparable structural damage that = can occur during a pitch raise.Since I did not give her fair warning as to = what could happen,  she feels that I am liable for the damage to her = piano`s ribs. Her thinking is  that it worked fine before I tuned it and = now it is broke. So what do you all think?  I plan to present her with all = the responses I receive to this post and she can decide if I am liable, a = crook,a con artist or what ever.RPTs,give me your thoughts, privately if you = like at ><A = href="mailto:bluefiddle@texoma.net">bluefiddle@texoma.net</A>.< Thanks, Al Williams.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>