Steinway London Rebuilding Problems

[kalee21]

Recently I have had my 40 year old Hamburg Steinway undergo action rebuilding and refinishing by Steinway London themselves.
Two problems were encountered.
The first attempt at a new polyester finish resulted in a piano finish with a ver poor result.  Steinway acknowledged the problem and the work was completely redone.  Steinway do not do this work I was informed so the piano had to be returned to the company they were subcontracting to.  The result is now quite acceptable.

Being of this age the piano obviously has ivory keys which were in perfect condition.  I made things very clear to Steinway that these were to be preserved at all costs as they are now irreplaceable I suspect.
On the final return of the piano it was obvious these had been damaged.  Filing away at the sides of the keys, five keys in particular.  Not just the key body but the ivory platings as well.

Can anyone advise what redress I may be entitled to.  The damage as far as I have been advised cannot be repaired without replacing the naturals of the keyboard.

[withindale]

What do Steinway say? I remember a judge at Watford throwing out a case where I had been called as an expert witness because the customer had not fully discussed the matter with the supplier and the supplier had not discussed it with his customer. The discussion about costs was very lively.

[kalee21]

I am patiently awaiting their response to my request they visit my home and carry out a full inspection.  There are other problems with voicing and unexpected sounds when playing fortissimo which should be resolvable.  My next step is to place everything in writing to them so there is a viable audit trail. 

[jaffasacha]

This is bad.
I had a somewhat similar problem with their refinishing of my piano.  Problems caused by an external piano refinisher not a piano company.

[kalee21]

An Update.
Steinway have acknowledged that one of their employees damaged the ivory keyboard and have attempted remedial action.
Some keys are only moderately eroded on their sides and these have been re-profiled, this time by someone who actually knows what they are doing.
Some keys however simply cannot be repaired without finding compatible replacement ivory platings.  Steinway believe the wood body of the key can be rebuilt with shims.
Their suggestion for ivory replacements however were simply ridiculous.
Have they attempted to source this material outside of their office : No.
Why could they not contact their Hamburg or NY factories. 

Perhaps someone out there knows where good replacement platings could be located?

[pytheamateur]

What a horror story!  I would have thought Steinway London would do a proper job.  You pay some much premium to get that official and certified Steinway rebuild and in fact they subcontract the work to god knows who!

After reading your story I start to wonder whether Steinway London is in fact any better than such non-Steinway adorsed famous Steinway rebuilders like Iain Gordon and Jeff Shackell.  Afterall, there's no Steinway factory in London, only in Hamburg and New York.

https://www.iain-gordon.co.uk/
https://www.shackellpianos.co.uk/

[kalee21]

I am glad to report that Steinway have saved the situation.
After much work, they have worked on the sides of all the keys and adjusted the pins to as to re-lay the keyboard.  The result is that the keyboard now has a normal appearance and the original key coverings have been saved.  It was not possible for them to locate a new set of ivory plates for the entire keyboard and matching just a few was obviously not going to work given what was available.  Of course a little extra care in the first place would have removed the necessity for all of this.

[hfmadopter]

I am glad to report that Steinway have saved the situation.
After much work, they have worked on the sides of all the keys and adjusted the pins to as to re-lay the keyboard.  The result is that the keyboard now has a normal appearance and the original key coverings have been saved.  It was not possible for them to locate a new set of ivory plates for the entire keyboard and matching just a few was obviously not going to work given what was available.  Of course a little extra care in the first place would have removed the necessity for all of this.

Wow, a long wait but hopefully fully worth while ! It sounds as though all has ended well.