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About us
2 EMPLOYEES. NO SUBS. COST IS DETERMINED BY THE JOB.
Business highlights
32 years of experience
Services we offer
LAWNMOWER SHARPENING, PIANO MOVING & TUNING, SPARK PLUG & OIL CHANGES AT YOUR LOCATION.
Reviews
4.419 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 79% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 11% |
Showing 1-19 of 19 reviews
KATHERINE C.
Oct 2011
He is a swindiler. It wasn't the quality of work that he did, but we settled on a price. He low balled the initial price and called stating that he needed more for the move because he thought the piano was smaller. This is not true becuase we discussed the dimesions (upright piano that was 48 inches high). Since he was getting more money for the delivery he closed the truck with the piano and threatned to drive the piano back to were I initially purchased it. I ended up having to pay him the higher price to get my piano. He was very rude, emotional, aggressive and irrational.
Response from ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING
"In replying to the complaint from the member submitted for a piano move TWO YEARS AGO, (what took so long?) I will try to recollect what may have happened, leading to the member's misunderstanding. Instead of asking how much I charge for a local move please invite me to visit the pick-up site and check out the challenges that can be serious and ALWAYS NEVER THE SAME. Moving pianos is a specialty and not a whim. I do not like to charge for evaluations within a reasonable distance up to approximately 20 miles or so. It does take time, but saves a lot on situations such as this narrative. Since then, September 2009, I have stopped giving telephone moving estimates. If a customer is serious about pricing a move, I will be invited to go see the piano at the pick-up site, at no extra cost to the customer, to consider the pick-up access, number of steps, sloping premises or other obstructing factors. I have learned the hard way that giving a sight unseen estimate over the telephone for a move leads to more trouble than it could be worth. A piano move estimate is actually an estimate for two moves: picking up the piano and getting it out the door of the pick-up- site, and then getting the piano into the destination door, while protecting fragile floors, walls, front door thresholds, breakable slate, porch tiles, weak floors, and countless other factors not included in a sight-unseen blanket price --- which would be considered as a “ballpark” price because of surprise factors to work around not included in a sight unseen ball-park estimate. In the member's case, she probably was not aware of the challenges involved in picking up her piano from the seller’s premises: Most customers are not aware of what it takes to move a piano. For instance, the pick-up site floor close to the entrance was covered with plywood and coverings to protect part of the TILED floor. Ramps were needed for steps over the patio, and from the patio to ground level Another scenario is the disappointment many customers feel when they realize that the cost of moving a piano is more than what they paid for the piano – especially for folks on a tight budget. Free pianos can be a real bummer. Seriously speaking there is no such thing as a free piano. For instance, some budget pianos bought from classifieds and/or friends are actually not even tunable because of loose pins, old strings, cracked plates, cracks in the bridges and so on. These problems I try to catch for the customers benefit. Will the service fees needed on this piano fit their budget? Once they realize the service needed and the moving fee for the piano, will they still want this piano? This is a fair question and I feel I have enough experience to give them enough information for them to make this serious decision on their behalf."
RICHARD Z.
Mar 2011
This is the 5th time we have used Archie. He is a "character" and we always enjoy his charm and spirit. He doesn't look like he can move a grand piano but he has every tool you can imagine in his truck and goes about moving like a surgeon in the operating room. He brought one assistant with him to help out but systematically and safely moved this large piano from one home to the other without any problems. Once placed in new home he tuned it up and played a medley of songs. I think he should do a side business entertaining at parties!
JAMES B.
Jan 2009
He had more than enough equipment to do the work perfectly. He was very professional and competent, and we were extremely happy with his work. We would use him again in a heartbeat. I appreciated his work, and the price was reasonable.
JAMES P.
Sep 2008
He was great. I would and will use him again in the future. He was good and extremely careful. He came well equipped. After he helped us move the piano he came and tuned it as well. He is so dedicated to his work that during my daughters piano lesson, the teacher noticed a note out of tune. I called him to schedule an appointment, he was on his way to a wedding and offered to come right then and fix the problem! I told him that the problem could wait but he came right out and fixed it for me immediately. He is a very personable and friendly man.
ALYSON J.
Feb 2008
Archie arrived 20 minutes late holding up a moving company that was here to help with other things. His business is about 5 minutes away, used movers I had hired and only had to take the piano 2 miles.
WILLIAM E.
Dec 2007
Archie is just a great guy. He clearly loves his work, loves pianos, and wants to help people out. He is also so eccentric and interesting that he made the experience fun just getting to meet him. On the Saturday that Archie returned for the piano, he told me he could perform a service on my baby grand to fix the sticky key and make sure all of the other keys were in good shape (while the board is off you might as well) for $95. I told him I would have him back out sometime in the next couple of months, once we were ready for a tuning. So, to get me through the holiday Christmas carol season and the next couple of months, he quickly brought his tools inside and performed a quick fix on the key to make it stop sticking for a while. I couldn't believe he would do this for me without expecting anything in return. He is a great guy. By the way, Archie is so careful with pianos and clearly knows exactly how to move them -- I would trust him completely with any piano move.
RANDALL Y.
Jan 2007
Archie does a very professional job moving a very expensive piano. He has moved several pianos for me over the years. He does a through inspection prior to each move and alerts us to any potential issues. He also services and tunes when needed. You will not be disappointed with his service.
SAZSA V.
Jan 2007
Excellent! The cost was slightly higher than a moving company quote, but that company required storage till they made a trip and Archie's extra care of the piano was worth every penny. His love of music shows in the care he took to move it. Archie is very creative when it comes to moving pianos across different obstacles. At first glance, you wonder how he could do it (he's NOT a young buff man) and then you see the truck of tricks. He has made the process smooth and painless with all the self built wheel carts, blocks, etc. He is a very friendly man and loves to play the piano. He played for our family in Durham when picking it up and had a fabulous rendition of Amazing Grace. He also played for us in Charlotte. Don't worry, he doesn't charge for the extra time to talk and play. He just loves people. When we get around to tuning our piano or have to move it again, we plan on calling Archie.
GRETCHEN M.
Oct 2006
Archie was recommended by a friend. We were not prepared for this dude! He is a little guy and works like a wild man and never shuts up! But in a good way, in fact he had everybody laughing the whole time, but he never stopped working. And he'd even sit down and play a rocking tune for about 30 seconds or so. He had all the straps, dollies and ramps you could ask for in his big old truck. He moved out our old HEAVY player piano and took it down the street to the new owners in about an hour flat. He is worth the money just for the laughs!
COLLEEN G.
Aug 2006
Archie and his assistant show up on time, and took great care in breaking down our piano and moving it. They were very fussy about how it moved and extremely careful. He's a character and full of energy. Some folks might be put off by Archie initially because he isn't real formal in his business conversations. But he takes his work VERY seriously and consistent with other comments about him in this work, he treats the piano like a precious cargo. Highly recommend him. Be prepared to hear lots of stories while he's there.
VENUS S.
Jun 2006
Hired to move and tune piano and was quoted $395 after he saw the size of our house. He did not have his own movers but used the movers we were already paying hourly to help him and then told us it would be an additional cost to tune our piano. When he was questioned about the increase in price, he said we needed to be prepared for additional costs if we want to live in such an expensive house. He got mad and gave us our check for $395 back and ran off and then came back to our house twice to try to get the check after midnight. He was extremely rude and we would never recommend him to anyone. We mailed him a money order for $300 because he never tuned the piano, he used people we were already paying so we paid double and we hope we never see him again. Just use a moving company that can move pianos instead of using him. Ours was an upright and did not need special care but was heavy.
JOY D.
May 2006
Archie is a fun guy. He had moved our piano and I knew it hadn't been tuned in a long time, so I asked him back to tune it. He called one morning and said he could be here in the afternoon, which was fine. He did come a little later than expected. He first took apart the top cover to get to the strings, and dusted everything, using my vacuum hose. He has an electronic tuner and he can do it by ear too. He noted that since it was so out of tune he wouldn't tune it all the way up to perfect pitch because that would put too much stress on the piano and might break some strings. So he tuned it up halfway and then went string by string to make sure the chords were in pitch with each other so it sounded much better. The top strings he thought were so rusted they might break and he told me he was going to try and sure enough one of them broke so he stopped there. Since my son is a beginner he doesn't really use the top octave anyway. When he was done he sat down and played something beautiful
JOY D.
May 2006
I called Archie to ask him to move a piano a friend was donating to me. He asked about the piano and said to reduce the price he could do it after regular hours and with my husband's help instead of an assistant. His wife Maxine does the scheduling, and I talked with her several times over the next 10 days. She was very pleasant and professional, and willing to work with our schedule. The day of the move Archie was running late. Maxine did call to let me know. My husband met him and led him to my friend's house, where apparently it was quite an adventure getting the piano out - they actually had to remove part of a flowerbed in front of the house. Archie has all the equipment necessary to avoid damage, and he knows what he is doing. He is also quite a character. They got the piano to our house late, but in good shape. It was much bigger than I expected and the price was higher because of that. Archie could give a better estimate if you know exactly what kind of piano you are moving.
JANE O.
May 2005
THE MOVING COMPANY WE WERE USING FOR THE REST OF THE FURNITURE RECOMMENDED ARCHIE. HE TOOK A COUPLE OF HOURS TO MOVE THE PIANO, BOTH TIMES. HAS LOTS OF ''EQUIPMENT'' AND ONE ASSISTANT TO HELP, USUALLY. WE HAVE USED OTHER MOVERS, AND THEY TOOK LESS TIME, AND CHARGED LESS FOR BIGGER MOVES. WE DID NOT HAVE HIM DO THE TUNING, WHICH WAS AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE. OUR REGULAR TUNER DID THE TUNING. INSURANCE WAS REIMBURSING US FOR THE EXPENSE. THE PIANO WAS MOVED 2 ROOMS AWAY, ON THE SAME FLOOR OF THE HOUSE. VERY PERSONABLE AND ENTERTAINING GUY. THE MOVE WAS SUCCESSFUL.
RANDALL Y.
Feb 2005
ARCHIE HANDLED THE PIANO WITH EXTREME CARE - EACH COMPONENT OF THE PIANO WAS WRAPPED WITH MOVING PADS AND PLASTIC WRAP BEFORE IT WAS MOVED FROM THE HOUSE. ARCHIE HAS MOVED AT LEAST 25 PIANOS FOR ME (SMALL MOVING COMPANY) IN THE PAST YEAR. WE HAVE NEVER HAD AN ISSUE. HE IS A VERY ENTERTAINING GENTLEMAN AND GREAT TO WORK WITH.
JASON M.
Dec 2004
HE SEEMED NICE ENOUGH OVER THE PHONE, WHEN I WAS GIVING HIM DIRECTIONS TO MY HOUSE, ETC. STILL DOESN'T MAKE UP FOR THE FACT THAT HE NEVER MOVED MY PIANO. ALSO, SOMETHING WEIRD, WAS THAT HE ASKED ME WHETHER I HAD ANY MEN IN THE HOUSE WHO COULD HELP HIM MOVE IT.?? ISN'T THAT THE POINT OF HIRING A COMPANY? SO THAT MY HUSBAND DOESN'T HAVE TO DO ANY OF THE WORK HIMSELF? WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS SERVICE TO ANYONE. GO WITH A REGULAR MOVING COMPANY. THEIR PRICES MIGHT BE HIGHER, BUT AT LEAST YOU KNOW THEY'LL SHOW UP.
CHRISTINA G.
Nov 2004
VERY PROFESSIONAL & VERY CAREFUL!
NORIE S.
Oct 2004
HE WAS EXTREMELY CAREFUL, EVEN PUTTING DOWN TRANSITIONS BETWEEN CARPET AND TILES. HE SHOWED AMAZING KNOWLEDGE OF THE PIANO'S VALUE AND ENTERTAINED US WITH STORIES AND IMPROVISED WORDS TO OLD SONGS RELATED TO THE JOB HE WAS DOING AND THAT PARTICULAR PIANO. WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM AGAIN IF ONLY FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT, AND THE PIANO WAS CARED FOR LIKE A BABY IN A CRADLE.
PAUL M.
Jul 2003
ARCHIE IS EXTREMELY ECCENTRIC AND FUNNY. BE PREPARED TO HEAR LOTS OF STORIES. OH, ARCHIE CAN REALLY WAIL ON THE PIANO. HE HAS THAT NEW ORLEANS BARREL ROLL STYLE OF PLAYING. HE CLAIMS HE CAN'T READ A NOTE!
RANDALL Y.
Sep 2002
ARCHIE WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL - PUNCTUAL - CAREFUL. I NEEDED THE MOVE TO BE DONE IN THE EVENING TO COORDINATE WITH THE MOVE OF THE HOUSEHOLD GOODS. I WILL DEFINITELY USE ARCHIE FOR ANY FUTURE MOVES.
Licensing
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FAQ
ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING is currently rated 4.4 overall out of 5.
No, ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING does not offer free project estimates.
No, ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING does not offer a senior discount.
No, ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING does not offer emergency services.
No, ARCHIE'S PIANO MOVING & TUNING does not offer warranties.