Over the years I've found myself in the unenviable position of having to
critique the work of other technicians and rebuilders.  It seems that
this usually happens within less than six months of a major restoration.
Sometimes it happens within just a few weeks.  Most of the time, the
customer is unaware of the gravity of the problem(s).  I typically get
called in because "something's not right" and the technician lives too
far away to make the journey to correct the problem.  Complicating the
situation is the fact that I'm often recommended by the technician.

In fairness to the technician, whom I seldom, if ever, actually speak
to, I solicit as much information as I can from the customer with
regards to the claims made by the technician about the job that was
done.  Then I begin dismantling the piano to see what's what.  As I'm
doing this, the customer is normally close at hand, and I give them a
running commentary of what I am seeing as compared to what I should
see.  On average, it takes only a few minutes to locate the nature of
the problem.  From that point, I explain what must be done to correct
the problem.  As it often happens, undoing the mistakes, oversights, or
just plain poor workmanship gets costly in a hurry, and I'm asked to
write up a report (complete with photographic evidence) of what I have
found.

Here's my question: Before sending my report to the customer, do I have
any obligation to attempt to contact the technician and tell him what I
found?

Musically,
John A. Tuttle
Brick, NJ
http://www.player-care.com