My experience w local piano movers
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So, this is the thing I have been avoiding posting about, because I was waiting till I was less mad and waiting to hear how the piano sounds...
I was very unhappy with the moving company in terms of how they handled my grand piano. I have watched this piano be moved four times. Each other time has always been a two-person team, and from a national company dedicated to piano moving. This time, the company I used does regular moving and piano moving, and they came very highly recommended to me by other people who have used them to move pianos, and also by a local piano tuner. They were a three-person team. One of the guys obviously knew what he was doing, he's the one who removed and reattached the legs, lyre etc. But the other guys, not so much. Well and even the main guy, although he knew how to disassemble and assemble the piano, he didn't seem to make decisions that made moving the piano easier for them...
One problem was that they didn't have a ramp -- the other companies I've used set up a ramp from the front steps, these guys didn't have one. They did have a four-wheeled dolly and that worked fine, thankfully. But they needed a portable ramp.
They really struggled to get the piano down the steps from the porch at the rental house (even though it was barely three steps and one of the steps isn't a full-height step). I guess the piano got stuck? I was watching and I could not tell what the problem was. But in retrospect, I think maybe it's because that area was narrow, not because of the height of the steps. When they finally got the piano through, past the point where it was stuck, at one point the piano was set down hard with a big thud. Not dropped exactly, but close.
I don't think it's damaged (I've been playing it and it sounds fine, is not any more out of tune than before it was moved, and the PLS works etc.) but I plan to ask the tuner about it when he comes.
Then when they got the piano into the piano room at the new house, well first remember that the piano sits on a rug, which is on top of a carpet pad. It was hard to get the piano into position because it had to be positioned at an angle, and when they finally got it in place, the rug had waves in it (not bunched up exactly, but not something you could leave like that, and definitely not something that would resolve on its own). So first, the guy was kicking with his feet as if to force the rug down (which, had he continued, it looked like he was going to damage the rug... He stopped because it wasn't working, but I was able to ask him if he planned to buy me a new rug...)
Then they were saying there was no way to fix the rug without calling in a fourth person. A fourth person. My piano is a Yamaha C2 (5'8") not a 9 foot concert grand. Gimme a break.
So we discussed and figured out that the movers could slide their feet under the rug, lift the piano just a bit, and me and my husband could pull on the rug to shift it. We did that a few times and finally it was (mostly) fixed. But at this point, the rug and the carpet pad were completely out of sync with each other. You could see the carpet pad peaking out on two sides, not a good look.
We did a few more things to try to get the rug and pad aligned, but nothing was working. Finally I said, forget it, I'll cut the carpet pad (the pad is made to be cut anyway, but I forgot how thick it is and hard to cut. Mr. SK ended up doing it for me). At this point, I just wanted them to leave. Which they did, and Mr SK trimmed the pad so it's no longer visible.
Oh, I forgot, they also did not understand why I wanted them to line up the casters so they all pointed the same way, and it took a bit of convincing, not only for them to do it, but also I had to point out several times that each time you move the piano to arrange one caster, the other casters move, so you have to be careful about how you do it. But finally, the casters got lined up. And they left
before I started screaming at them.Anyway, the piano is in its new spot, it looks ok and sounds ok, so I assume it is?? But how would I know if it were damaged from the move? And, say I found a hairline crack somewhere? I wouldn't know if it was caused by them or not. Also, I have a fabric cover under the piano for the dampp chaser, so I can't easily crawl down there and look around.
Anyway, in conclusion, these guys were the worst piano movers I've ever seen, and it seems like part of it is because they didn't have the right equipment, and part of it is
because they were idiotsthey weren't experienced enough.I've been debating about whether to call and complain or not. If we ever need to move again (which, I hope we don't) I'm not sure what movers we could use, and I would hate to burn bridges. This company has a lot of employees, so I'm sure these guys aren't the only piano movers at the company and if I needed to, I guess I'd use them again? (After confirming that they were sending experienced guys, with the right equipment...) Although I would much rather have a national piano moving company come out, even if it was a local move.
So that's my piano moving story. I wish it were a happier one.
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So sorry to hear about what sounds like a harrowing experience. Hopefully the piano is fine.
I think I would get in touch with the moving company and talk to someone higher up. It's pretty silly that they couldn't even get the rug positioned correctly without wrinkles. Describe the multiple problems the crew had, including the thud. And how your piano has been moved multiple times without incident with a two person crew.
Maybe the crew you got was not particularly experienced, and if that's the case, the moving company might appreciate knowing that and they won't send these guys out for another piano move.
If nothing else, maybe you can keep this from happening to someone else.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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@wtg said in My experience w local piano movers:
So sorry to hear about what sounds like a harrowing experience. Hopefully the piano is fine.
Thank you. I think the piano is fine, but of course I could be missing something.
I think I would get in touch with the moving company and talk to someone higher up.
So I just looked at the web page again, and I had it backwards of who I thought was the owner and who was just a manager. Ok, I'm going to talk to the owner actually, because I found him easier to talk to than the other guy.
@wtg said in My experience w local piano movers:
Maybe the crew you got was not particularly experienced, and if that's the case, the moving company might appreciate knowing that and they won't send these guys out for another piano move.
If nothing else, maybe you can keep this from happening to someone else.
Yep, this will be my goal in talking to them.
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Hoo boy... No ramp? Yikes.
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@Rontuner said in My experience w local piano movers:
Hoo boy... No ramp? Yikes.
Yep. It seems like such a basic thing. And it would have made such a difference.
-_-So Ron, how worried do you think I should be about them setting my piano down with such a loud thud?
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was it on a skidboard and wrapped in blankets? probably ok
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@Rontuner said in My experience w local piano movers:
was it on a skidboard and wrapped in blankets?
Yes!
Your "probably ok" makes me feel a lot better!!
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Skidboards are heavily padded on the piano side, any loud thunk would likely be the bottom/wood part hitting the ground.
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ok that makes me feel a lot better!!!
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I watched them put it on the skidboard (which I recoginzed immediately because I've seen them before) and wrap it and all that.
If they would have just had a ramp, it would have been much better. But then again, there was the mess with the carpet...
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We never had a ramp to move grands, and I've moved a whole lot of them. You just take it up on the skidboard a step at a time and break it over when you're far enough up. Once you get up on the level you can reinsert the dolly. I'd much rather move a grand than an upright.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”
― Douglas Adams -
I'll let Mary Anna recount the story of moving her grand.
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@Quirt-Evans said in My experience w local piano movers:
I'll let Mary Anna recount the story of moving her grand.
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It’s been SIX YEARS since they moved my piano to Reno. And it still makes mistakes almost every time I play it. There should be somebody I could sue..
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@DougG
You are not hitting it hard enough. Pianos need discipline.
Another problem is that some like discipline. -
When you are feeling cooler, call the owner. Those guys are in the wrong line of work.
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@Mik Thanks for this Mik! I don't want to say the wrong thing when I contact the moving company.
But for the record, the problem these guys had wasn't going up, it was going down, when they were bringing the piano out of the rental.
Based on your comment, maybe not every job needs a ramp, but this one would have gone better if they'd had one.
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@Quirt-Evans said in My experience w local piano movers:
I'll let Mary Anna recount the story of moving her grand.
Oh dear....
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My piano is currently on a moving van headed here. We are using a large international line that contracts with piano movers on either end to load and unload. I thought it would be fine.
And it probably is fine, but the process has been nightmarish. At Quirt's urging, I wrote our move coordinator the night before to make sure they were sending the third-party movers to take care of the piano and two large pieces of exercise equipment. I thought, "They're professionals. The third-party people are line items on the contract. Should I have to tell adults to do their jobs?" Well, the answer to that question is often yes, so I did as Quirt suggested. She said, "Yeah, sure, fine, they'll call you to arrange things."
I didn't get a call that night, but I got a call early on the day of the move. I said, "You're coming to load the piano and exercise equipment?" She said yes.
The movers arrived, but the third-party people didn't. At some point, I asked the one woman on the crew if she was the woman I'd talked to. She said, "Yes." So I hadn't spoken with the third-party mover. I called the moving coordinator. Much fussing around ensued with several calls from me. The upshot was that everybody blamed everybody else, but what probably happened is that the guy who quoted the job told the regular movers the correct date, but mistakenly put 7 instead of 6 down for the month on the order for the third-party crew, so they weren't planning to come for 30 more days. Much more fussing around ensued while they figured out whether they could do the job. About lunchtime, they showed up...without a piano board.
I was told not to worry. A regular four-wheeled dolly would be fine. They did seem to know how to do the other stuff--taking off the lid and legs and wrapping it in blankets and such. I called the moving coordinator. She said, "He knows what he's doing." So I watched them wheel my 900-pound beast of a piano out the front door and down a small step and onto the lift, steadying the thing as the lift went up. Then there was a lot of conversation about where to put it in the truck. The man in charge said he'd only ever moved one piano that large, and that they shouldn't lean it against the wall, because if the truck moved in a way that shifted it from vertical, the truck would actually sway and the driver would feel it. (Egad.) He told them where to put it on the truck and what to pack next to it to help keep it upright.
I called and emailed the coordinator and told her, "The third-party movers have got to have a piano board on the other or they will never get it up the eight steps to the front door without it falling over." She said she'd pass that along.
Consider me terrified. But we paid for insuring the load, so they have a lot of incentive to get this right.
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Oh MA, that sounds awful! I’m so sorry you had all that trouble but at least they got it loaded.
Is the piano on the truck with all your other belongings?
