Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/08/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband an I hired Walters piano to move our antique mint condition square grand piano from **** to **************. We utilized them for storage as well until our new house was complete. Upon request for delivery they increased the "delivery price" by $1000 from the estimate saying things change and the increased cost was because the quote was at the time of pickup and that was 4 months prior. I asked the local movers when they brought the piano and they said they have not increased costs. You have no choice but to pay the increase if you want your piano Walters knew the stair numbers from the start. On top of that they make you pay before delivery, so if there are any issues you have no recourse as they already have full payment. Somehow they LOST our key slip. How do you loose an over 4 foot piece? I entered a claim that day with pictures demonstrating an intact key slip at pickup. Zero response since then. Won't respond to calls or emails. Please note amount listed below does not include monthly storage charge of $110

  Business Response

  Date: 07/09/2024

  We do apologize for the delay in response to a request for an update on the claim that you submitted to our company in regards to the missing key slip. We received the claim on June 26th and responded within the hour and would ask for 5-7 business days to investigate. Our claims department was closed from 6/28/24-7/8/24 to celebrate the holidays, which was stated in an out of office response to the request for an update. We reached out to the local pick-up mover who packed the piano for us to see if the piece had come out in their facility as this piece on this style of piano does come loose over time. As was mentioned today in our response to the customer, if we are unable to locate the key slip, we will have one made to replace it. 
  In regards to the price that was charged for delivery, the amount that was charged to the customer was directly the cost that we had to pay in order to have it delivered to their new home. It was noted on the original quoted cost that steps would need to be reviewed as pictures were unable to be provided at that time due to new construction. With the addition of more steps along with being able to see the route the piano would need to travel, unfortunately, the cost did increase by $775 from our original estimate. 
  We will be in touch with the customer to let them know if we find the key slip or whether we will have a replacement made.
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/09/2024

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  We have had a restoration specialist and tuner out.  The missing piece was wedged in the working part of the cabinet out of view until the piano was partially disassembled.  We do not require anything further. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/23/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  June 2021 we hired Walter Piano Transport to move my Steinway from ******** to *******. Fee was $1750.00. Delivery was to occur in ***** days. Took delivery on day 55 with the case badly damaged the hinges holding the lid on broken and the lid disconnected. Walter Piano tells you up front not to worry, your piano has a $1,000,000 insurance policy on it. However, Walter us refusing to pay the approximate $8400 for the hinge/lid repair, the case damage, and the cost of transporting the piano to a local steinway certified repair shop for repair. I seek those costs and a refund of our $1750.00.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/23/2022

     We have received the notice for request of payment in regards to your claim. Walter Piano Transport is submitting all of the information necessary to dispute the claim and give our rebuttal:

  
  In the case of the claim in question, the order was placed with us on 6-17-21 and was delivered to the home on 8-18-21 and we were notified by the customer of the damage (stripped hinge and blanket/pad marks) by email on 8-20-21. We began the investigation process immediately and responded to the customer the same day; due to a number of uncontrollable factors, the timeframe to complete an investigation varies and on average can take around 2 weeks. After comparing the claim to our signed contract from the customer, it was determined that the claim was not covered within our policy. The customer was notified of the denied claim by email and over the phone on 9-9-21.

  
  Please refer to the following paragraph/bullet points to view the findings of this claim/order and why this has been denied by our company(paperwork will be provided as well):

  
  Timeline for delivery:
  It has been brought to our attention that the customer states we promise delivery within ***** days. Our contract clearly states Once the order is placed; local movers try to schedule pickup within ***** days. Delivery on average is ***** days from when the item is picked up from the local mover. Our company does not promise delivery dates, and our protocol is to only report the stage that the piano is in to the customer as needed.

  
  Blanket/Pad Marks:
  We were made aware of the blanket/pad marks being reported on the case of the piano upon delivery. The customer was told to refer to our liability clause that states:
  Walter Piano Transport will not cover the following:
  -Mechanical working condition: including pedal lyre assembly, action, and players.
  -Anything stored inside the bench; including music, caster cups, and piano covers.
  -Finish repairs not done by us, electronics, extremely fragile components (glass), soundboard,
  and blanket/pad marks.
  -Finish issues, including loose veneer, on any piano that is 20 years or older.
  We do not cover anything that is not controllable by our protocol. Blanket/pad marks are out of our (any movers) control. It is caused by either: age of piano (this piano is over 65 years old), poor cleaning habits (using any product to clean the piano that isnt just water), sun exposure over an extended period of time (sitting next to a window in a home), extreme temperature exposure over an extended period of time (the warehouses and trucks used for our moving service are equipped to prevent this), or anything else that will soften the finish. We have no control over these factors, and if a customer decides to take the risk to move their fragile instrument, there are some things that have to be taken into consideration before they do so. This is why we encourage our customers to read our policy thoroughly before deciding to move forward.

  
  Lid ******************************* addressed the lid hinge issue over a phone call with the customer on ******* (the day of the claim notice) and again on 9-9-21 in an email, stating that the hinge damage is consistent with the screws being stripped, along with wear and old age, and that we would have absolutely nothing to do with this because we would never remove the lid or even touch the screws. Our findings are confirmed by the description provided by Tynis Promet (the Steinway technician requested by customer) in his estimate Both lid hinges are loose, s**** holes are stripped. The same thing is said about the propstick but with more description Propstick holding the lid is loose, 2 out of 3 brass screws are spinning, when propstick was installed last, the installer must have over torqued the brass screws, breaking them in half. Our company does not and will not remove a lid or touch a propstick in any way during a basic move such as this one. It is not protocol and it is not safe to remove the lid during transport. We dont know who would have stripped the s**** holes, but it would not have been by our company.
  Not to mention, the propstick was never brought up by the customer as part of the claim and this is the first time we are being made aware of it.

  
  After considering all of the factors presented, we stand firm on our decision to deny the claim by the customer and will not be paying the requested amount. Please refer to the attached documentation for reference.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/06/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  Hi ******,

  I did not see the email response from Walter Piano transport, which is why I didnt respond to what they said.

  This is the first time I have gotten any sort of response from Walter Piano transport in writing.

  I have communicated with them over the phone and they always promise to send me stuff or call me back but they never do.

   

  Their response is not satisfactory. I took many photos of the piano before it was picked up.

  The piano is ************************************************************************************* 2009 (attached).

  What Walter says they wont cover in their response is basically every part of a piano!

   

  When I contacted them initially, they reassured me that my piano would be insured for any damage up to $1,000,000.

  This of course, was all over the phone.

   

  I think the piano was in the heat for a very long time and thats how the finish was so badly damaged.

  While it was in transport, about a week before it was delivered, we started calling and asking where our piano was.

  Depending on who we talked to, we got a different answer. Sometimes we were told it was in ******* already, sometimes we were told it had not arrived in ******* yet.

   

  This treatment is absolutely unacceptable. What do I need to do to reopen this file.

  Walter Piano transport has never dealt with me in good faith.

  They refuse to produce the Statement of Condition that was filled out by they movers when they picked up my piano, for example.

  The telephone help are rude and condescending. They trashed my piano and refuse to make it right.

   

  *******************

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2022

     We have received your response in regards to our previous rebuttal. Our company's protocol is to keep records of all interacts with the customer in regards to their **********************. The timeline of how this claim was conducted is laid out in our previous statement, showing that we had responded to this customer by phone and email the same day that the claim was received. The customer had been notified of this **********************'s progress throughout the move and the investigation of the claim. Also, the condition report was never requested by the customer and is not relevant for the claim regardless. The piano is not covered due to age and long term environmental factors that caused it's finish to become soft, this is out of our (or any mover's) control and our signed contract with the customer states this fact. We do not have control over how a piano was cared for prior to us shipping it and we encourage our customers to read their contact carefully and consider the risk of moving their fragile instrument.

     In regards to the claim that the piano must've been exposed to heat; there is nothing in our records for this piano's move that supports this claim. We have very strict protocol on how the pianos are kept and cared for. We have many steps in place to ensure they are not exposed to the elements. Also, the type of softening this piano is showing would not occur in the short time span that this piano would've been in our possession, this would have to slowly begin over many months/years. As a side note, no other piano that was housed with this instrument showed any damage similar and the many other pianos in our care at the same time do not have any softening of their finish.

     To conclude this claim; we have conducted any involvement with this customer and their ********************** with the care promised by our contract, we responded to the claim immediately and handled it as fairly as we possibly could given the circumstances we were given. We have rebutted this claim on numerous occasions in many different formats over the past year. The claims of us being unresponsive and keeping the piano an extended amount of time are false and the denial of the claim being covered by us is stated and explained in our contract and has been restated by our team to this customer on numerous occasions. For further details please review our last rebuttal with the dates and attached files.