Dodgy Digital Piano

I bought a Suzuki digital piano in jan 05 from a large reputable music store. It wasn't a cheap purchase - the guts of 1K. It has been working fine up until last night. Now one (only one!! ) of the notes will not work - e flat incidentally. The Suzuki guarantee that came with it is for 1 year. Obviously it's past 1 year at this stage.

The piano has been well cared for, played by adults only no kiddies hammering on it! I would also have to say that it hasn't been played that often. Initially every day but as interest waned it was only played once a week.

My query is, do you think that the shop are still liable to fix it regardless of the manufacturers guarantee ? I bought it from the shop after all not the manufacturers. Does consumer law not state that the product has to be fit for it's purpose ? A piano that breaks due to the keys being pressed surely can't be fit for it's purpose ??

Does anyone think I have a leg to stand on ?

gianni said:

Does consumer law not state that the product has to be fit for it's purpose ? A piano that breaks due to the keys being pressed surely can't be fit for it's purpose ??

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Were you able to play the keyboard when you first bought it? Were you able to play it for the following 18months? Basically, the keyboard was fit for purpose.

Consumer law also has in it comments regarding length of time following purchase where it can be reasonably expected for the law to apply.

Essentially, to answer your question, you don't have a leg to stand on with regards to your "fit for purpose" argument.

gianni said:

I bought a Suzuki digital piano in jan 05 from a large reputable music store.................................. My query is, do you think that the shop are still liable to fix it regardless of the manufacturers guarantee ?

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Your best option here, I would say, is to go back to the music store and hope that it stands by its reputation.

Calmly, politely (and without mentioning words like liable, legislation, consumer law etc.) explain the situation to them and see what they can do for you. Explain to them what your ideal solution to the problem might be - have the item repaired at no or minimal cost - and see what they might do to help you out.

Thanks for the reply ronan_d_john

I take your point about going the softly softly approach rather than storming in and demanding rights! I would never be anything other than polite regardless. Bad manners / abusiveness gets you nowhere...

Consumer law also has in it comments regarding length of time following purchase where it can be reasonably expected for the law to apply.

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This point though is more where my argument is going... ie what is the reasonable length of time to expect something to continue working. I think too many shops will try to fall back on to the terms and conditions of the manufacturers guarantee which is just the easy way out. The manufacturers guarantee doesn't supersede consumer law.

Personally I don't believe that 18 months is a reasonable amount of time to expect to have before a 1K piano goes bad. (But I would say that, wouldn't I!) But who is to say what is a reasonable amount of time for any given product ?

I think you are right, in that "fit for its purpose" implies it will last a reasonable amount of time. However, 18 months for the first mechanical wear and tear damage to appear doesn't seem unreasonable to me. If it's just the mechanism for one key that needs to be replaced, that seemes reasonable. If it's something more fundamental, then perhaps it wasn't fit for its purpose after all. Depends how much they quote to have it repaired I suppose. Is it the Eb above middle C? That would support it being normal wear and tear.

gianni said:

This point though is more where my argument is going... ie what is the reasonable length of time to expect something to continue working.
...
Personally I don't believe that 18 months is a reasonable amount of time to expect to have before a 1K piano goes bad. (But I would say that, wouldn't I!) But who is to say what is a reasonable amount of time for any given product ?

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From the ODCA website - [broken link removed].

If the goods have been used for some time, or if there is undue delay in making the complaint, or if there is reason to believe that the goods have been accepted, the consumer's entitlement, at best, may be to a repair or to a partial refund.

There are no hard and fast rules as each case has to be considered on its merits.

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The statute of limitations for the Sale of Goods and Supply of Service Act is actually 6 years, but as per above, and according to the National Consumer Agency, circumstances of each case will be different, and if it comes down to it, only a Court can make the definitive decision.

thanks for the input ronan_d_john / MugsGame.

It is the Eb beside mid C... it would have had some use but siginificantly less use than the other (white) keys. I'm not an accomplished player so I wouldn't have been straying on to Eb all that often - most of the stuff I play is in a 'simple' key. Therefore I feel that the key failing to work isn't down to wear and tear - more likely that it's symptomatic of something else.

But I suppose only I know how often the piano was used and how it was cared for... I guess it'll just have to be chalked up to experience and I'll give that make/model a wide berth from now on....

On a totally unrrelated topic... would anyone like to buy a digital piano, 1 previous owner, 98.86% of keys working. The ideal present to encourage a gifted child!

gianni said:

I guess it'll just have to be chalked up to experience and I'll give that make/model a wide berth from now on....

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Have you even gone back to the shop at all yet to see what they have to say? You give the impression that you haven't, and don't appear to be intending to at all.

Where moving parts are involved of course there will be wear and tear. It doesn't have to be the key that was used most that fails first; the mechanism for your Eb could have been slightly weaker than the others. Also, something could have been dropped on it withour your knowledge. If you'd bought an analogue piano (at considerably higher cost) you'd probably have wear and tear plus the cost of getting it tuned. It's a grey area but it doesn't unreasonable to me that the shop would charge you to repair it. Have you asked them yet?

If you don't use Eb that often, then it won't matter, will it? Will the piano transpose? You might be able to transpose by an octave up or down and use a different Eb when necessary. As as a last resort, perhaps you could play D# or Fbb instead or even the infamous "any key" ?

That said, I have a Yamaha digital piano in my bedroom that's over a decade old and all of the keys work, despite much abuse, including heavy objects falling on the keyboard. I suspect it cost a lot more than €1k originally though.

I haven't been into the shop yet - it's not easy for me to get too... but I have spoken to them on the phone this morn with little success. I was fobbed off with "oh X deals with that section and isn't around at the minute, can you call back in half an hour ?". Agreed to this and called back...similar reply...so left my contact number - still waiting....

I have every intention of going into the shop and speaking with them in the near future.

By "I guess it'll just have to be chalked up to experience " I mean that I will probably have to bite the bullet and be out of pocket to get it repaired... my use of 'I guess' is probably misleading, (the influence of too many American sitcoms )...to rephrase that thought:


I think I'll probably have to end up paying for repairs and chalk it up to experience that those makes/models aren't as reliable as I thought they would be.

In the meantime, you have the ideal instrument for "playing" 4'33.

Will the piano transpose? You might be able to transpose by an octave up or down and use a different Eb when necessary.

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It does indeed transpose... to be honest I wasn't entirely sure what that button meant! But I guess it means being able to play an octave in a different 'transposed' location on the keyboard ?

In the meantime, you have the ideal instrument for "playing" 4'33.

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Finally a tune that I will be able to play flawlessly

A transposing piano can change the pitch the keys sound at. Usually you can transpose in semitone steps -- a semitone up and your D key would play Eb, for example. If it can transpose up (or down) by a whole octave (12 semitones), you can use a different Eb key to play the original Eb note you want.