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Sherman Clay in Bellevue Wa. treated me like [censored]. They told me to come back in and hr. to play the piano they were previewing the piano for someone. I came back in and hr. and I wanted to seat down and play a Steinway they told me they would not let me sit down and play one unless I was going to buy one. I told the sales women she was rude and walked out. Wrote a letter to Steinway in New York and got a call and a letter of apology. No reply from Sherman Clay. Sherman Clay going out of business is great news and I hope I was to blame. There are alot more places to buy a piano these days than just a store with rude people.

That's too bad. I was travelling for a conference and stopped by the Sherman Clay in San Francisco earlier this year and they didn't mind me playing on the Steinways for an hour despite my newbish playing and lack of intent to buy a piano. Of course it doesn't seem like many people visit the stores in the middle of a weekday.

Insulting your customers is a good way to go out of business.

I've been to both Steinway Galleries in Los Angeles, and Field's in Orange County have always been welcomed and been free to play any piano. Very nice folks at Steinway, IMO.

Sherman/Clay has not had a Bellevue WA store for at least three years. It took you that long to complain?

I was thinking the same thing but thought I would wait to hear from others.

That's what I thought, also. However, I did hear similar stories from when they were around.

Darwin was right.

"...Wrote a letter to Steinway in New York and got a call and a letter of apology..."

Yet you're still not happy. I wonder what it would take? I have a feeling that those inner fires of fury would still be roasting you; no matter if you were declared King of the World, there would be something wrong with that, too.

It seems to me that the company did all that they reasonably should. I hope you feel better soon.

If it helps, the salesperson or manager probably got a call and a letter, too--- of a different kind. And the conversation was handled, as it should be, away from customers' eyes.

Maybe needs a witch doctor and a voodoo doll to put the whammy on them!

Not from me.

Gary Egger treated me very well when visiting there!!

Gary, where the heck are you??

Norbert

Rod,

"Bigbird1" didn't say WHEN he had this bad experience at Sherman Clay. However, Sherman Clay's closing is current news, and news of the closing might have reminded him of that bad experience some years ago.

The Bellevue store was pretty bad when it was in business. The Seattle store isn't much better. Classical pianos in Bellevue is awesome though.

Yes, the guys at Classic Piano are the nicest and most well informed. Their tech also does the best work. I enjoy visiting them very much.

Gary moved to SF

I went to the one in Phoenix a bunch of times, before they went under a couple of years ago. They always seemed nice and pleasant enough to me. And I made it clear up front that I was not buying.