Modern Piano Moving

I used a different piano moving company to move my Schimmel from the West Coast to the East, and it was a good experience, my piano come through with only the smallest of scratches, not even worth the trouble of having it painted over as it was on the underside side of the keys and the piano only required a tuning after the moving. I was very happy with that company, however the next year when I was offered another job back on the West Coast that particular could not come to pick up my piano on my given time frame, I was comforted by the fact that Modern Piano moving had been in busy for several years with good reviews and had superior ratings on both the Better Business Bureau and Angie’s List. Their quote more expensive than the previous company, but they could pick up the piano by the time I need. I took out full replacement value insurance on my Schimmel was picked up by Modern Piano through them as well. I had a long lesson with my teacher an international concert pianist himself the day before my Schimmel was picked up and it was in excellent voice everything was as it should be, not a note was out of sorts. It had been recently seen my Schimmel trained German Tech who had done the tuning on it and had it perfectly to Schimmel’s spec. I felt very confident in my choice of Modern Piano when they came the next day, a Sunday, August 25th, 2019. The two men where professional and polite arriving within their time estimate, and wrapped my piano up well. The head guy of the moving time inspected my piano with a flashlight, only noted the small scratch I had previously mentioned in this letter. Lifting its lid to inspect the pristine keys and slow fall system for the lid. I had no concerns. However the trouble started about two weeks later when Modern Piano called up and wanted to charge me an extra 200 dollars and change for renting a U-Haul truck as they claimed their larger truck could not fit into the driveway of my new house in Washington State, I had to explain to them that they had been given both addresses at the time of the quote, and looked on Google maps at both addresses and that they had been paid their fee and that it was their error if upon reflection that they required a smaller truck then it was their fault not mine. The person I spoke with Misty grumbling agreed that the set fee had already been paid and they could not tack on further charges. The people who dropped off my piano in Washington State were gruff and unprofessional. They were much later in their estimate of 9 pm; it was well past 10pm if not closer to 11pm on the 21st of September when arrived with my piano, they spent less then five minutes unloading my piano. I had hardly had an opportunity to unwrap my piano, which did not come wrapped in the same manner in which it left Virginia; only a single shipping blanket covered it. It was very late that night so I went to bed. The next morning I found my piano had massive scratches and strap marks all along with the case, on its high gloss black finish. The ones near the pedals went down to the wood. There were dozens of scratches on the underside of the lid like it had been scratched by a cat or cleaned with steel wool. And when played terrible sound the piano made was not simply due to being out tune from the move. I have played this piano through multiple moved within a state and of course my 1st cross country move. I immediately sent pictures of the damage done by the movers to Modern Piano. Mr. Christopher Ash of the Claims department of Modern Piano dismissed my serious concerns over the dreadful tone of the piano as simply being tuned, which from my training with my teacher and experience of the my Schimmel was not the case and said that they would only offer 300 dollars towards the refinishing of my top quality hand made in German piano. I was informed by the store, Classic Pianos, I bought my piano from and their recommended re finisher that the materials needed could not be purchased for $300 and Mr. Promet’s estimate was at least 2,000 dollars from the pictures I showed him and that he could not be certain it would not be more without looking at the piano in person. The person that Modern Piano tried to send out to repaint my piano was completely unprofessional on the phone never once inquired whether my piano was an art case or high gloss black piano. And wanted to paint it at my residence, which I was informed by Mr. Promet the recommended professional to restore my piano that was unprofessional not only to the risk of paint going everywhere but that it needed to be in a well-ventilated area as the polyurethane coating of the high gloss finish needed to cure for several days. I had by Schimmel tuned by a registered Piano tech recommended by Classic pianos and it did not improve the severe issues terrible sound when this piano brand is used by concert pianists all around the world and is known for its excellence in design. I had a noted concert tech Mr. Melekh come out to look at my piano and he found the bar that moves the mute pedal had been completely bent out of shape, and he was able to bend it back in place, but I mentioned to him that I was having trouble with my hands, diagnosed as tendonitis. Which had never trouble me in the slightest even when I had two-hour lessons on my piano. He noted that key dip, i.e. the distance the key travels down before the hammer strikes the strings, was very odd. And said I should get another person out to check that out as it was a multiple hour thing to fix and he did not have time in his schedule nor time left in the appointment after fixing the mute bar. I made an appointment in December with another tech had registered piano tech out who is recommended by Classic Pianos for a January 10th appointment during this time I could not play my Schimmel as it caused me such pain in my hands I was advised not to play unless I wanted to cause permanent damage to my hands That piano tech Mr. Mayfield found that the key dip on my Schimmel was 14mm when Schimmel spec is between 8mm-10mm depending on the preference of the pianist and that it was no wonder it was causing tendonitis on my hands trying to play complex and long pieces like Sonatas by Beethoven or an Impromptu by Schubert with such a massive key dip. It was explained to me that a key dip of 14 mm only occurs if the piano has been dropped and or something collided with it at high speeds as this is a solid instrument it after all traveled from Germany originally that if handled carefully even a very long move such as across the country or across the Atlantic ocean would not trouble it. Mr. Mayfield tuned the piano again after the work done on the 10th of January 2020. It has a strange buzzing sound which it has never had before, which indicative of other damage. The question was raised that perhaps there was damage to another area of the piano since something happened to it while it was in transit and Modern Piano concealed this from me saying nothing had happened to my piano in the transit process. I am having another piano tech, Heather Fandrich, who is highly experienced in repairing and building pianos come out next Tuesday the 18th of February to evaluate my piano again. In the meantime, I will have to have my lawyer call back Russ at Modern Piano so this matter can be settled as it has been going for far too long several months since I noticed the troubled the day after it arrived in late September 2019.

Very competent and friendly . Cost most reasonable.2

My Steinway baby grand moved from North Carolina to Oregon. It went very well. This is the second time that I have use them to move the piano and I have been very pleased both times. I definitely will always use them for moving my piano.

Modern Piano Moving did an excellent and professional job of moving my Steinway Model L piano. The staff were courteous, accommodating, and responsive. I very highly recommend this company.

It couldn’t have been a smoother experience for me. I recommend Modern Piano wholeheartedly!

Very pleased overall. Communication was excellent. Instrument arrived in great shape, and delivery team was polite and caring. I started with a different company which tried to double the price mid-way through the process. Modern Piano was honest and lived up to every promise.

From start to finish, they handled my Father's piano with care. They were on time with their scheduled pick up and delivery. If I ever need to move again, I will call them first.

Super courteous and careful with our piano move. Workers on each end of the move were exemplary! Price was better than others and service was fantastic. Communication was on point! Very impressed with Modern Piano Moving!!

I would not trust my piano to anyone else. They moved it twice for me storing it for several months both times. Very considerate. I'm certain they treat the cheapest and the most expensive piano with the same loving care. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Modern Piano Moving did a great job moving and storing our Steinway and French double manual harpsichord when we moved from Florida to California. The house we were renovating wasn't complete in the time we expected, but they made storage of the instruments easy. When we were finally ready for the instruments to be delivered it was just a matter of weeks before they made it out from their warehouse in St Louis to Southern California. The moving team was great and terribly professional, despite coming to us at the end of a what seemed like a long and hard day. On top of it all I feel like all of the services provided - for almost a year of storage and a cross country move - came a quite a bargain. It's no surprise to me why every piano tech and harpsichord builder I spoke with prior to the move suggested Modern Piano for our move.

Punctual and very professional

Every aspect of the move was exceptional. - both the movers and the move administrator were friendly, knowledgable, hardworking, and professional - The price for the service was highly competitive and very reasonable given the value of the piano and the distance to be moved - The piano was picked up and delivered per the vendors promised schedule - All contacts with the vendor were upbeat and amicable - The piano arrived undamaged and in its original condition - The movers exceeded my expectations in terms of attitude, professionalism, and overall customer service

A move from Detroit area to middle Illinois. I prefaced the engagement with the notion that the piano made it in my house, it could be moved out of the house. First attempt in September, after waiting almost a month from signing up. They could not get the piano out of the house. They gouged a door frame and indicated they would provide some dollar relief to repair the damage. Never happened. Two months later, second attempt. This time they "shelled" the piano (gutted all the working parts and action and lid) and were successful in getting out the door and onto their truck. Indicated they would move directly from my house to the destination. Three weeks later, on the expected date of delivery, they called to see if they could take the piano back to their warehouse in Missouri and attempt a future trip. I contacted the owner and said "not acceptable". They delivered and setup that same day. In the process of "shelling" the piano, they broke a hammer/shank - which never materialized after unpacking and setup. I filed a claim with them to replace the hammer, and was told their "fine print" in their contract did not cover damage to internal parts. That cost me $150 out of pocket to have it replaced and installed by a local piano technician. They did discount the contract for the "shelling", as is that mattered. Very hard to find qualified movers for interstate moves, and their prior Angie's List recommendations led me to believe it would be a "top drawer" experience. On the contrary.....buyer beware, especially of their contractual "fine print". I let them off the hook for the $150 hammer replacement, plus $400 to repair the damage to my interior door frame which they never thought to cover, even though they took pictures of the damage they caused.

From start to finish Modern Piano did an excellent job! They responded quickly, answered my questions via phone or email efficiently, planned the move ahead of time and treated the piano like professionals. The challenge of moving the piano down a half flight of stairs and around a tight corner was handled with the utmost care and professionalism. The crew knew what they were doing and even injected some humor into a tough delivery situation. The price was the same I had been quoted by a moving company, but I was thankful to have a crew who really knows pianos and moves nothing else. I would recommend them without reservation to anyone looking to move a piano across the states.

Very professional. Arrived early (about an hour) for both scheduled pickup and delivery, but called ahead to warn. This was fine for pickup as we were home all day, but was a minor issue for delivery as we had not planned to be home until the delivery window. Luckily, as they called ahead, we were able to get someone to be there before the delivery truck arrived. However, it all worked out and we are very happy with the result.

The piano involved is an Steinway upright piano made for the Prussian Palace with very high sound quality. It is aged but in excellent condition, well-conditioned and well-tune. It is a gift from a family of piano players with a nominal sales price of $10K. The true value of it is far beyond that. The piano is not hard to move. It has been moved from the auction house with no issues. It is not hard to move pianos in and out of this house. At least 10 pianos have been moved in and out of this house without issues. Modern Piano Moving is contracted to move this piano from the house of our child's piano teacher in Georgia to our house in California. The move happened in December1, 2017. The piano teacher complained that the moving board that workers brought in is too small to move a piano, the wheel on that moving board is too small, and the staff consisted of only two workers instead of the industry standard of 3. The piano almost bumped into the wall while the moving workers struggle to keep the piano on the small moving board. On January 10, 2018, we receive a notice by Angie from Modern Piano Moving that the "When the piano was loaded for delivery there was a glued joint on the key cover that failed. It isn’t broken, but the delivery crew left your key cover in our warehouse for repairs.” We consulted with the original owner, who told us that there should be no glue in the cover, which is a good solid piece of wood. We immediately demanded Modern Piano Moving to return the cover without doing anything on it and we made the same request multiple times directly to its owner, Russ Vitt. Modern Piano Moving still has not returned the key board cover. on January 11, 2018, the piano without the key board cover was delivered, with more evidence of gross negligence. The keys were broken, the leg supporting the keyboard is broken, debris were found inside the keyboard, the keys are out of tune. We emailed repair request immediately and Modern Piano Moving promised to "everything taken care of to your satisfaction.” On January 22, the owner of Modern Piano Moving email us: "I am putting the claim on hold until you respond with answers to my questions. Do you understand that?”. The questions he demands answer is why the original owners complained that the crew who picked up the piano are not professional. I filed a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, and almost immediately, Modern Piano Moving started to ship back the key board cover to me. When it arrived, the one piece of beautiful wood with fine texture is completely covered by a layer of cheap coarse material. Namely, you cannot see the wood any more, instead, you can only see a layer of cheap material with dents, creases, uneven surface and uneven paint. The layer seems quite thick, it is not clear how much of the high quality wood has to be grind off to make room for the cheap material. Please notice that trees grow naturally and slowly at the time the piano was made. Wood of the same quality is very difficult to find now. Namely, the beautiful one piece of wood is now completely covered by a layer of cheap material. Moreover, part of the layer is bulging out, as if gas between the cheap layer and the beautiful wood is accumulating. I am worried that the cheap layer by Modern Piano Moving may prevent moisture from getting out, which would result in the original high quality wood to rot inside! For all the other damages (broken keys, broken legs, etc.), Modern Piano Mover has done nothing about them, while the repair requests were made the same night the piano was delivered, many months ago. In the photos I attached below, I also included a picture of the other leg of the piano, which is the way it should be.

Great. They were very professional. And handled our piano with the greatest of care

When we relocated, we knew we were going into an apartment while we hunted for a new house and settled in, so we stored the organ with a friend because we had been uncertain about taking it through multiple moves or regular storage. When we finally found a house and needed to move the organ to us, we contacted Modern Piano. The move went so well that I felt silly for having left the organ with my friend. If I ever need to move again, I will use Modern Piano for moving and storage. I trust them with my grandmother's dear old instrument.

So far, so good!

They communicated well from day one, and their fees, procedures, and timeline were clear and honest. I appreciated that they encouraged me to call for updates as needed, and they were good about keeping me posted. The piano arrived promptly and in good condition, and the movers were professional and friendly. I would absolutely use Modern Piano Moving again, and I would recommend them to friends and colleagues who need this service.

They were prompt, professional and careful.

Very well. Time well scheduled. Young men who picked up and delivered it were professional, friendly, etc.

Did a great job! Prompt and courteous. Very reasonable compared to others. Would hire again.

The piano was moved the 18th of December 2016, and stored in a warehouse until January 5th when I had it moved to it's new location. The price was fair. They knew what they were doing. They knew what they were doing when they packed it up, they wrapped it incredibly well, there storage and their trucks are climate controlled.

Could not have asked for a better mover!!!! My piano was treated as their own.