Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Dealer steps to the lowest of tactics.Shame on you!!!!!!

Friday I announced that due to height problems,I would have to return my newly purchased Steingraeber upright for a new Feurich grand.(Not the Chinese one but the hand made ones in Gunzenhausen Germany)Several forum members chimed in to wish me good luck and to tell me what a high quality instrument Feurich was dispite the financial problems Julius Feurich has had over the past few years.I was all excited to be receiving another wonderful top tier piano. My dealer at Atlantic Music in Melbourne Fl(Brian Gatchell)graciously allowed me to return the Steingraeber for the Feurich. Something he did not have to do.Here on the forums when we get a new piano ,the experience rates right up there with our most memorable moments!!Sat. I received a PM from another dealer (one thatI did not even know)to call him. He said"He had LOTS of things to tell me.I thought that when I called he would offer his congrats and wish me lots of luck with my new Feurich.What he preceded to tell me sucked out all the excitement that I had over my new purchase !! I don't know if in the future,I want to return to this forum.Although there are many wonderful dealers that contribute very important info.here,there are some dealers that are so cut throat and out to hurt any other dealer that stands in their way.To those of you(and you know who you are)who fall into this category,sicken me to the very lowest depts of my stomach.

I want to start by saying that I and my partner have had the most wonderful experience with our dealer (Brian Gatchell with Atlantic Music for over 22 years.)When we started our lives togeather 22 years ago, we could only afford one of the cheapest entry level uprights on the market.Over the years Brian has helped us to upgrade to some of the highest quality pianos available.At times when I would find a piano that I just could not pay the full amount on,Brian would say pay me the balance when you can.There was no formal contract.He did not send me to a finance company and get this!!!You are not going to believe me when I tell you but he never charged me a penny of interest!!!!! I never failed to pay him.He has been the kindest,most compassionate,generous and sincere businessman we have ever known.Never once has he judged my partner and I because of our sexuality.Brian has not only been a piano dealer to us but he has been our friend. He and his wife were there for us when my partner had to retire as a hospice counselor due to a motorcycle accident that left him permanantly disabled.Since the accident my partner has had 11 back operations.Brian was always there with either flowers,cards and follow up calls.When Brian opened his concert hall ,he gave us free annual passes saving the front row seats for us. One regular seat for me and an empty space for my partners wheel chair. At intermission he would always come to make sure my partner Bob was comfortable.After my partners accident,I was depressed and in a high state of stress.As a child raised in a household of physical,mental and sexual abuse,the piano has always been my life line.It always made me feel as if there was always hope.After a long stint of alcohol and drug abuse,my piano has helped keep me clean and sober for all these years.35 to be exact.Why do I tell you these very personal things? To make a point of how music is able to heal and bring us all togeather!! I am here to tell you that for the past 22 years,Brian has played a very big part in my Sobriety.He has given me the gift of music ,even when i could not afford it.I have never even expressed to Brian what an influence he has had on my life until now as I write this post.I weep as I think of how kind he has been to us.So we do not consider him just our piano dealer,we consider him a true friend.Thanks Brian and I do hope I am not embarrasing you. We love you and Genny with allof our hearts.Now enough of the love fest. This post is also intended to show a very good example of how one single bad apple of a dealer has saddened me and put a damper on(no pun intended) my recent buying experience.

As I said earlier,I called this dealer Sat.that had requested that I call him.When he began to speak he immediately began to be negative toward Brian.I told him that Brian had told me the German made Feurichs were among some of the best pianos made.He then replied that Brian was feeding me some b*(&^%$t!! He said that although the Feurich was a sweet instrument,it in his opinion didn't rate any higher than some of the tier 3 pianos such as the Wilh Steinberg AC.He also preceeded to say that even though the MSRP was approx $86,000.00 for my Feurich it was not worth it.He poked fun at Julius Feurich's unfortunate recent financial demise. I already was aware of this but talking about kicking a man when he is down!!! This just is not my style. He said Julius would not know anything about making a piano if he had to.I want to add that Julius is a 5th generation piano maker who grew up around pianos all his life. Even if Julius has made some mistakes(Lord knows that haven't we all and myself included)this has nothing to do with his ability to make high quality pianos!!My mouth dropped and I just did not know what to think of this venom he was spewing.He went on to ask me if I thought Brian was Homophobic.I had to keep from blowing a gasket so that i could hear what other venom he wanted to spew.I simply replied he has always been very good to my partner and myself.If any of you read what I said about Brian earlier,does that sound like Homophobia to you? So he asked how much I had into the Steingraeber.He then said if I bought the Feurich,I would be getting ripped off.Then he asked,"HAve you heard of the Estonia?"This just happens to be a brand he sells.I said yes and that I had read some very positive comments about them.He said they are far more supieror to the German made Feurich.Again I am not talking about the Chinese made Feurichs even though I hear they and Hailins are quite nice as well.Mine was completely made by hand in Germany.Then here it came! The almighty dealer's sales pitch!!He preceded to tell me that if I wanted to trade in my Steingraeber upright,he would pay my expenses out to his dealership to sell me an Estonia.Even though I am sure Estonia is a GREAT piano,his motives all of a sudden became very apparent to me.To me this was as low as any dealer could get!!Of course I declined and finished up the phone call.I just do not know what to think!!!! Even though I could see through him,something unrational in the back of my mind,still makes me feel like I made a mistake even though when I think rational,I know I haven't !The Feurich will be delivered Wed.and I hope I can cheer up before it's arrival. Excuse my typing and any gramatical mistakes as I just had rotator cuff surgery! In the end we all love music and we are all a kin to being a family.The love of pianos is what brings us togeather while the greed of some others can pull us apart. I hope we can all learn a lesson through my upsetting experience.I know I have rambled but just felt the need to express myself. Thanks for listening!! And to you Mr unnamed piano dealer ,will that Estonia sale be financed by you with no interest and an agreement to pay you when I can!! I THINK NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG - This is so saddening.

However, it doesn't surprise me.

Thank you for your truly heartfelt post. I am sorry that you have had such an experience as you have described from that phone call.

Let me point out something about the rules. Self-promotion does not just mean hawking your wares on the open forum. It also extends to the "give me a call" posts and PM's where a seller tries to character assassinate someone for the purpose of making a sale. Or making offers to sell in PM's.

piano man I hope you enjoy your new piano.

Hi Piano man, i had horror experience with dealers and i honestly felt piano shopping was worst than car shopping. At least to me, if i test drive 2 cars made by the same manufacturer and if they are the same model, I don't personally feel they're that different. but for piano, each piano is very unique. That becomes a big problem when you have limited dealers in your city and they have limited inventories, then you might like one of their piano but you completely disliked the dealer to give him/her your business.

Anyway, i made a bad choice and gave business to a terrible dealer because i wanted his piano. I felt I was treated poorly after the post-sales transaction and the worse was when I reported that incident to a management at the manufacturing company, I got a disrespectful response as well. I was quite upset and totally ruined my excitement towards my then-1 week old piano.

After being upset for a day, I decided I should ignore these people and just enjoyed my new piano. I decided not to let these people affect my admiration and enjoyment to the piano because THEY ARE JUST NOT WORTH IT. I hope you get my point and will love your new Feurich grand more and more everyday.

and the good thing is, i'm glad to hear there are still good dealers like Brian out there. based on your post, he truly is one of a kind.

pls post pics when your feurich comes!

Piano Man, it's too bad you were contacted by someone so negative and who obviously didn't have your best interest in mind. Don't for a minute let that encounter cast doubt on your decision to buy the Feurich. You are lucky indeed to have a trusted friend of so many years in the business like Brian. Put the negative out of your head!

As a newbie to the piano buying scene, I'm finding it difficult enough to try to come up with "my" dream piano, and worrying about good vs. bad dealers just adds to the stress.

Enjoy the new piano!

Great post, and thanks for sharing your personal story.

That might be up there as one of the worst dealer stories I've heard. I can't believe he started talking homophobia, that's just crazy.

You should post the name and store of the dealer so we know not to do business with them.

Also, the nickname the guy uses here as well.

Sorry to say Ken but the PM option is very abused by some that come across as trying to "help" I've heard and read stuff like this before. I have been slandered more than once via PM. I wonder how many people have not told me what they have been told via PM. I wish more people would call out the deceptive dealers.

Piano man, enjoy your piano.

Maybe not, all of us do stupid things, no need to ruin a reputation. Hopefully he'll read this and know he was stupid, and try to change in the future. The sale of a single piano isn't worth being stupid.

No one should have their entire business ruined because they did something stupid. And if he does stupid things continually, then his business is already being hurt by that.

A sensible post. Lets not be too quick to pull the trigger.

Ok, outing the dealer here may not be the best. But from what I read of the OP, and if indeed the story is accurate, it sounds like that dealer has gone way too far to slander that other dealer. And clearly trying to make a sale with a brand he carries, deliberately saying bad things about the Feurich piano.

If he's on the forum, I personally would want to know who he is. I'm sure if he messaged you like that you would feel the same way as the OP. I'm all for misunderstandings but this was a calculated move to take a sale away from a dealer and capitalize on it. Just my thoughts.

The Forum rules clear prohibit such contact.

You should PM Frank Baxter and ask him to communicate with the dealer.

Let's see that he doesn't make the same mistake, (stupid or not), again.

Not a newsflash. Sad but true that there are some cutthroat piano dealers out there! Buyer beware.

My heart says i should not reveal his name. But the other part of me feels he should be outed here om PW.
If nothing else,I feel I should ask him for a written apology to Brian and myself..Maybe he should be held liabel, so I am thinking of contacting my attorney because of the slanderous things that were said against Brian and Julius. Still trying to decide what action to take.I am sure there are many dealers here that would not want another dealer to discredit their reputation!!!Any suggestions?

I would not "out" the person here, at least not at this point. I would, however, forward the contents of the PM to Frank, and I would take a screenshot of the PM to keep for your files.

Revealing contents of PMs is not against any law, but it is generally regarded as poor form to print them publicly. And it exposes you to charges of slander, with possible legal ramifications.

If my reading of your long post is accurate, the bulk of the damning conversation was contained in a follow up phone call, not in the PM. Unless you have a recording of that call, mentioning that person by name on the forum will simply put your word against his. That would be as unproductive as it would be ugly.

As a dealer of both Estonia and Steingraeber pianos, I want to make it very clear that this was not PianoCraft.

Thanks for the info Piano Dad. I had company here in my house,several people to be exact. When the dealer started saying his slanderous words,I put the phone on speaker. I have several witnesses to the conversation. Unless we receive a written apology from him I shall proceed as to inquiring what my legal options may or may not be.

[quote=Keith D Kerman]As a dealer of both Estonia and Steingraeber pianos, I want to make it very clear that this was not PianoCraft. [/quote

I confirm that it was not you Keith!!

Piano man-
I agree with pianodad. A pm is one thing, but a conversation (even with witnesses) is another.It'll just turn into a lot of he said-he/she said.
Look, the way things usually go on this board, I'd bet that all the Estonia dealers (and there aren't THAT many)will chime in with posts like Keith's. The one that DOESN'T will be the "culprit". On the other hand, if he/she does post and you know they're lying, then it's a good time for a little outing.

In the meantime, go practice the piano!