The Happy Piano Turner

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In all my years of training as a classical pianist, Scot Lockhart is by far the most unprofessional, unprincipled, and dishonest piano tuner I have ever encountered. Mr. Lockhart has zero integrity – he did not complete the job he was payed for, refuses to address the situation, and has thus cheated me out of $180. IF YOU VALUE YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY, DO NOT EMPLOY THIS INDIVIDUAL.

I emailed Scot a week before our meeting to schedule a tuning plus what is advertised on his website as the "upright maintenance package," which includes regulation of the action. One week later, Scot said he would arrive a little after noon. On that day, I emailed him at 12:30 wondering if he was still coming, and he finally showed up at 1:30-2:00.

He then asked me what I wanted him to do with the action of my piano. I replied that, as I had stated in my email, I will be performing for GroupMuse and that I would like my piano performance-ready with the action regulated (i.e. equal key depth, smooth key motion, etc., you know, regulation) and the strings tuned. He then began explaining to me, as if I've never played piano before, that the keys on my quite new Wurlitzer console would always be hard to press down. I said I'm not concerned with the weight of the keys, but that I want the action regulated with the full upright maintenance package as I had hired him to do.

The maintenance package, as advertised, includes "restore keys to original depth, regulate lost motion and key play, align hammers to strings, adjust pedals/new felt, clean keys, lubricate flanges." HE DID NONE OF THESE THINGS. He told me that he "didn't bring the right tool" with which to regulate my piano, but said that he could "work on the hammers." Wait...what? That is not what I asked for.

I also have a muffling pedal that needed fixed, but he had to HAVE ME HELP HIM in order to fix it. But ok, no big deal, I just want it fixed so I can practice at all hours.

He then proceeded to tune my piano and said that it was going to be $30 extra because I needed two tunings on the same visit (which is advertised on his website as a "double tuning"). Ok, that's fine, as long as my piano is performance-ready, I have no problem with that. He eventually finished and left: no regulation, no clean keys, no lubricated flanges, no maintenance.

Later that day, while playing on my newly tuned piano, I realized that *one* of the keys was horribly out of tune, like it was playing two notes a semi-tone apart. In addition, there was now a clicking key. I then sent Mr. Lockhart a polite email, complimenting him on what tuning he had done, but asking him if he could finish the job I had payed $180 for and tune the key that he had missed and to repair the clicking key (which I offered to pay extra for). Mr. Lockhart repeatedly declined, saying that he had "done a lot" and "suggested" that I play the piano for a month or so and have him back for another tuning. Sir, didn't I just pay for a DOUBLE tuning?

So, I payed $180, received an incomplete tuning, didn't get the full services we agreed upon, and am left with two unplayable keys that were playable before Mr. Lockhart worked on my piano, and he refuses to correct the situation.

Save your money for a professional who values integrity and who takes pride in his work. DO NOT HIRE MR. LOCKHART, because he wants to get payed for doing as little as possible and to take advantage of people who he thinks don't know any better. BEWARE.