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Rob,<br>
<br>
How about just passing the buck next time? "Sorry, but you need
someone who specializes in this type of restoration. I'm just not up
to tackling something this extensive." He might get the point after
everyone else says they won't do it, either. For all you know, maybe
several other guys *did* tell him that, so he's getting desperate now.<br>
<br>
I suppose you could suggest he send it to England.<br>
<br>
Was he mentally competent? I used to tune for a very pleasant elderly
lady, but the last time I went she made irrational accusations against
me. I don't intend to go back, even though she did apologize later.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Clyde<br>
<br>
Rob Goodale wrote:<br>
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<div><font face="Arial" size="2">I had one of my worst experiences as
a piano technician this morning. I got a call from a guy who told me
his piano needed tuning and repair. I agreed to take the job. Upon
arriving I about fell over.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">It turned out to be a 90 year old
"Metropolitan" full upright. It was the biggest pile of crap I have
ever seen outside of a land fill. I immediately started in how old the
piano was and probably not worth fixing but he quickly cut me off and
in a heavy British accent told me to "please fix it". The "thing" had
been painted white. He was now in the process of painting it gold
which he proudly proclaimed was "restoring the finish". Chunks of wood
were missing out of the case. I opened it to find that the action was
not even screwed in place, just laying in the piano. There was one
broken treble string and the bass strings were black with corrosion.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">There was a crack running under the
bass bridge and the apron was loose. There were broken bridal straps,
broken hammers, and several others that had been previously broken and
reglued with string. most of the hammer return springs were out of
place and some were missing. One sharp was missing, the key bushings
were worn out, someone did a poor job at recovering the keys, and the
pivot pin on the sustain pedal had been sheared off completely and the
bushing block was shattered.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">He continued on about what a "great
piano" it was as I looked at the sad heap. I calmly explained that
there was simply nothing left to fix, the piano was dead and what he
needed was a new piano. He came back with "You Yanks, your all alike.
You throw anything away. In England we would never throw out a fine
instrument like this!" Then he bragged about how he KNEW what he was
talking about because HE was a pianist! (Oh golly silly me, I should
have worshipped his feet on the spot!) Then he proudly announced that
he bought it from an auction so it MUST be a good piano! (Now there's
reasoning for you).</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">I continued to explain that I was
trying to save him money, that it would cost him far more to repair
than to replace it. He demanded to know how much. I explained that it
would cost hundreds just to make it produce sound again and even then
it would be nothing but trouble. "Oh no I don't want to do all that, I
just want it REPAIRED, you know, so that it works"! (Excuse me didn't
I just say that? Do we need subtitles for this conversation?" I then
explained that what the piano really needed was a complete restoration
and that would cost at least $10,000.00. "I'm trying to save you
money, this piano is NOT worth it, you really should consider buying
another piano". He again reminded me that he was a pianist and that
he knew this piano was worth it and that it really didn't need that
much work. Finally I just told him flat out that I couldn't help him
and that I really didn't have the time to spend three days working on
it. His disposition continued to get worse as I made a hasty exit.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Shame on me... after all this guy
was a "pianist" and got it from an auction so he MUST know what he's
talking about!</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Rob Goodale, RPT</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Las Vegas, NV</font></div>
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