Those who know me personally are aware that in addition to my
enthusiasm for mechanical instruments I am also a registered piano
technician.  I have a shop where I work on a lot of pianos including
repairs for a local dealer.

Over two years ago a client purchased a new piano for his night club
and bar.  These types of establishments are exceptionally brutal on
any piano.  They get drinks spilled into them, they become used for
ash trays, and owners typically refuse to spend the money for proper
maintenance.  Additionally a "teKniShUn" known for poor work pretty
much ravished the instrument.

When the owner finally bought another nice piano to ruin, he insisted
on keeping the old one to give to his brother.  (He must not like his
brother very much.)  The music store delivered the old piano to my
shop.  The cigarette stench nearly knocked me over.  The problems were
to numerous to list, but he verbally agreed (via the dealer) to have me
perform $500 worth of repair work.  This is largely a joke but I agreed
to make some effort.

Neither myself or the dealer received any written agreement and therefore
I have yet to perform any work.  The piano has sat, and sat, and sat in
my shop taking up space.  Several inquiries through the dealer have been
futile.  A few months ago I again informed the dealer I needed to do
something with this "PSO".  (PSO is what piano technicians call a "piano
shaped object"!)  It turns out the owner's business when bankrupt, he
skipped town and left no forwarding address.  Now what?

It is my understanding that the procedure is basically this:  First you
make an honest effort to contact the customer via telephone and tell
him that you want him to pay or sign the piano over to you.  Make sure
there is a witness to this effort, in my case the dealer who made the
arrangement.  If there is no response send a certified letter to the
last known address.  The signature proves the client had the letter in
his hot little hands.  It should state he has a limited reasonable time
(15 days at least) to pay up or give up.

If the letter is returned or the client fails to respond, you should
have enough legal ammunition to declare the property yours.  Should the
client challenge you after the fact it is doubtful any self-respecting
small claims judge will feel sorry for the "former" owner after
abandoning the instrument for so long.

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, Nevada