Piano
Inspection / Pickup / Delivery / Tuning & Service -- One Stop Shopping
Objective assessment of pianos for purchase, restoration and upgrade
options.
Honest advice, based on your needs. Save time & money by hiring ONE
experienced professional to inspect, move & service your new or used piano
purchase.
Schedule Inspection Once you've seen a few pianos and settled on
something you'd like to pursue, schedule an Inspection appointment via our
online scheduling system.
http://www.smithpiano.com/schedule/index.htm
If you don't see the town in the list of service areas,
email me for scheduling Inspection & Pickup service
DON'T GET BURNED TAKING A 'FREE' PIANO WITHOUT
GETTING IT INSPECTED FIRST!
We are seeing an increasing number of old pianos available for free or
cheap, on the Internet, which have gotten to a point where they are not
worth investing in. Get your piano inspected before you invest in
purchasing or moving.
The information below describes the inspection process, combined with
options to move the piano immediately.
Typically the first option for $75 covers most people's need for buying a
used piano. The $150 report inspection covers situations where you
need documented information for various purposes.
TWO OPTIONS FOR INSPECTION
1. Piano Inspection Report $150 Onsite inspection with WRITTEN
work quote & advice in PDF format.
Includes expanded explanations of work required, digital
photos of interior parts of the piano during the examination, work quotes
based on appropriate upgrade scenarios --all in the form of a written PDF
document which you can use for communicating with various parties concerning
the piano. This document can also be tailored for use as a 'sales
flyer' so that you can effectively represent the value of your piano to the
buying market, even if it requires extensive work.
2. Piano Inspection
$75 Onsite inspection with VERBAL work estimate and advice.
(No written material).
Vital signs: Pinblock torque, soundboard, bridges, ribs integrity,
basic volume & tone
Action & Keys: Condition, wear, repairs needed, functionality
Cosmetics: Case, casters, bench, finish, veneer, wear, damage
Summary & Work Quote: Must Do, Should Do, Could Do
Inspection Discussion & Questions
You are welcome to be present at the inspection and get questions answered.
If the piano PASSES inspection, and you wish to have the piano moved
immediately using Smith Piano Services, the inspection service is discounted
to $50.
The other method is to have me call you immediately from the Inspection
appointment, to discuss findings and make a decision whether to take the
piano or not. If the piano FAILS inspection, the $75 fee applies,
but subsequent inspections in
our regular service areas,
are done for $50 for the same party, until you find a suitable piano.
PIANO PICKUP
After discussion, if all is a go, I then go back into the home and remove
the piano. Should you decide to have the piano picked up at this time, you
will need a means of settling with the piano owner to allow removal of the piano. In almost all cases, if there is time for an
Inspection, there is time to load the piano. If
schedule permits, delivery is the same day, as soon as possible after
Inspection and Pickup. As mentioned above, if the PICKUP portion of the
moving can be done immediately after a successful inspection, the cost of
the inspection is reduced to $50.
Typical moving
costs
*Moving Uprights $275+ Grands $325+
*Longer distances, weird terrain or stairways of more than 8 steps,
additional fees.
Fill out online form for exact quote:
http://www.smithpiano.com/moving/form/index.htm
In our discussion of the piano inspection, I will give you an exact quote
for moving cost as well as service & tuning costs.In this case, we do the
Inspection, we discuss, you decide to proceed with the move, and schedule
permitting I load the piano immediately. Delivery is then as soon as
possible the same day, or as soon as can be scheduled (usually within 1-2
days).
Delivery Schedule
-- Why is it sometimes necessary to deliver the piano a day or two later?
In order to offer Inspection services, with the option of moving the
piano out immediately, it sometimes means that the day's schedule doesn't
allow time for final delivery to your home. This makes it cheaper to
schedule an inspection because we don't have to recoup the cost of reserving
a 4hr chunk of time for a move job that might not happen due to a piano
failing inspection.
The combined
inspection and PICKUP service, can be accomplished in the 2hr space of a
typical piano service appointment. This allows us to schedule
inspections quickly, with more flexibility, while offering you a discount
when we can do the PICKUP portion of the move at the same time as the
inspection appointment.
In these cases, I simply bring the piano to my secure work shop space to
store it until we can arrange a convenient time for delivery to your home.
This also allows you the opportunity of having work done on the piano in the
shop instead of your home, which can be an advantage for many of the tasks
involved in servicing an old piano.
Why don't I just hire you to move the piano, and take my chances that it
will be a good piano?
Of course I'm happy to provide piano moving service for those who know
what they are getting. However, I have seen many situations
where buyers or recipients of old pianos have gotten a terribly expensive surprise
when we examine the piano in their home AFTER they have spent money to move
it, and discover that it needs major surgery. This hybrid service is
an attempt to remedy that situation.
Willing to do some research on your own?
With some research, you can rule out a
few pianos yourself. Be careful, the "free" pianos abounding on the Internet
are free usually for good reasons. They can be a 600 pound pet alligator
that eats up your limited budget quickly if you don't know what you are
getting. Learn about pianos from "The Piano Book" by Larry Fine. This
book teaches you what to watch for in old pianos, and can help you rule out
some of the pianos you see.
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Book-Buying-Owning-Used/dp/1929145012/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205714436&sr=8-1
Schedule Inspection Once you've seen a few pianos and settled on
something you'd like to pursue, schedule an Inspection appointment via our
online scheduling system.
http://www.smithpiano.com/schedule/index.htm