Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum SOCK PUPPET ALERT: Essex, Yamaha, Charles Walter

Wow, what fun!

and people wonder why I read PianoWorld Forums!

At least i have this to look at. My thermometer says -10 just 24" from my toes.

PianoMadam,

My piano store is indicated on my profile page. My signature line does not reference it because I'm not here to advertise. I hardly even talk about the brands I carry. I'm here for fun.

I don't use my name as my screen name because of my concert career. Good reasons for this.

If you want to know who I am read this:

http://www.dispeker.com/page/pfund.html

If you decide to visit my store in the future, please bring your pianist, a headshot and bio. Thanks... we'll call you.

BC

I have great respect for the brand you represent, and I think anyone who knows much about pianos feels the same way. When I started my current sales job, one of my first calls was to Steinway, and I'm proud to call them one of my customers.

To all the people who keep commenting about how Pianomadam has damaged Steinway's name, keep in mind that she doesn't work for Steinway.

She's just a lonely rookie salesman in the back of an empty showroom. She's desperately trying to justify her $1500 draw and hoping she covers it so she doesn't have to pay it back the next month. Lacking the experience or savvy to creatively build a customer base, she gets on the old internets between smoke breaks and looks for Marks on Pianoworld.

People here have cut her way more slack than she deserves, but we've always been a trusting bunch. She's just one of many sockies that have trolled around here.

Finally, people have speculated on whether this behavior can be effective. In my opinion, the answer is yes. Consider a scenario where a customer comes in to the good Madam's shop and asks about Boston compared to Kawai. After hearing the "Steinway-Designed", "investment" and "no plastic parts" pitches, the customer is still skeptical, and mentions that he's been reading on online forum where people are expressing different views. Or, Pianomadam may even point them to this forum and encourage them to ask their questions here. Pianomadam can then attempt to manipulate the customer with her different sockies.

Pianomadam, you really should find another job.
At the very core of success in sales is credibility and honesty, and you have neither.

Madam,

LOL, I just reread your post to me and I think I was mistaken as to your meaning - the "you" in your post was not "me" rather the universal "you".

Sorry - I thought you were accusing me of not indicating my position in the industry. (underscoring the importance of grammer)

Still, if you do come, I'll still need a bio and headshot.

And by the way, I for one am still confused with regards to your gender????

BC

Carmina Burana is mine and my wife's favorite work. We have attended it anywhere we see it advertised within a reasonable distance. We have seen many different productions with no real favorites. It must be awesome to be such an important part of it.

That's grammar, Chris. Grammar!

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awewsome Chris!

great points, honkytonk!

Pianomadam, the idea that you "represent" Steinway is ludicrous and insulting to true professionals like Bob Snyder. What you represent is sneaky opportunism. I have no doubt that you'd turn around and trash the Essex and any other product you've touted around here if you were hired by another company. Please stop talking as if you actually cared about Steinway because clearly you don't or you would not be doing things that could reflect badly on them. This is about you. You need to leave the premises.

Sophia

My gosh there is a lot of philosophizing and handwringing over a very simple issue.

A liar and a cheat who is clearly in the industry has been found out. One of the tenets of PW is the ability for folks to come and get honest, relatively unbiased advice. Lots of industry folks here manage to provide just that. It is no longer possible for Pianomadam to add value to this forum. Not that she ever did in any reasonable proportion to her pitching.

The rules have been clear for years. They now simply need to be enforced.

Well, I must say I'm a bit on the side of Mr. Pels here, at least with regard to all the expressed outrage and 10 pages of it!!! Some people posting 5, 10, or 20 times. I can only respond: Get a life. Move on. Get over it.

If anyone with serious questions went out and bought an Essex piano solely on the basis of PianoMadam's surreptitious posts, not bothering to digest any of the other countless threads that discuss important considerations for a piano purchase, I would say they deserve whatever they get, perhaps something OK since I know nothing about Essex pianos.

With regards to previous posts from new members that feel a bit of shock over this:

I am also a new member, and have spent too many hours over the past few days going through the boards. I wrote about my self on the "lurkers" thread on the pianists board,
New memebers and lurkers
so from there you would know that I'm looking to purchase a piano in the next few months. I don't spend a lot of time on forums and I tend to be a little naive. I was taking way too much of what I've been reading on here as an honest truth. Until last night, when I read the thread Essex EUP-123E and I finally got JUST a little suspicious...
I'm so thankful to Ken for changing the subject line of this post, as it caught my attention to get me to read it. I know it's partially my fault for being so naive, but people like Pianomadam can be all too influential when it comes to newbies like me that don't know the background of this forum!

With all that being said, HA! to you for getting caught... This has definitely been a too-funny thread to read and a good kick in the butt for me! I'll see you all around!

Yeah, or so they say.

If I told you my real name was John Smith, would you trust me any more?

My point is ... just because someone says it is so, doesn't make it so ... unless they have additional proof to back up what they say.

I can't trust that whippen boy. People in a piano forum say he is an organist, and people in an organ forum say he is a pianist. And he might be too old to be a "boy".

And John Smith is my name. Really.

Well, I have heard that it might be John, but Smith?

Do you think that we are that gullible?

(oooh....on the other hand...maybe we are!)

let's have a code, perhaps **** in a row (just incongruously interspersed in our response)

to convey a 'sockpuppet heads up'.

let the cheap mofos pay for their own advertizing.

Here's another classic thread. "Steinway Character Assasination!"

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/21888.html

Started by L1037, but it took Pianomadam 5 pages to chime in. Maybe not a connection here, but up to this point was an all time low for the madam when she eventually slurs Glenn Gould accusing him of basically whoring for Yamaha by giving a paid endorsement.

Dan

Good one Apple. So true.