"Scamming the Customer" -- Jurgen Goering's mention of the tuner saying
no one was allowed to play the piano for three days brought back
memories of my days in piano tuning school.  We all used to get great
amusement out of some of the stupid things piano salesmen or "tuners"
told to, or did to unsuspecting customers.

One "tuner" would come in the house, set some kind of electric machine
on top of the piano, turn it on, and then leave the room, after closing
all the doors in and out.  Then he would ask the customer for a glass
of tea, and visit with him/her in another room.  After about an hour,
he would look at his watch, say something like "well, it should be just
about done", re-enter the sealed off room, turn off his machine,
collect his money, and leave.

Not to be outdone, there was also a story about an idiotic piano
salesman, whose spiel included the phrase "You can even play inverted
mordents on this piano."   "Mordent" is a musical term: you can play
an inverted mordent on _any_ piano, organ, flute, penny whistle, or
whatever instrument you choose.  One seasoned tuner commented that,
while he'd never encountered an inverted mordent, he had come across
the occasional inverted rodent.

For what its worth...

Bryan Cather

 [ A more elaborate musical figure is the "turn", which reminds
 [ me of this word-play in the Disney move, "Alice in Wonderland":
 [ Said the doorknob to Alice, "Oh!  You did give me quite a turn!"
 [ -- Robbie   :-)