Santa Rosa Music Center reviews and complaints

I hired Santa Rosa Music Center (aka DM Services for piano rentals) to move a grand piano. I encountered the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Wayne S., whom I believe to be the owner and with whom I dealt, is shockingly unprofessional and discourteous. Upon delivery it was discovered that my piano’s sustain pedal was malfunctioning. I called Wayne to tell him about the pedal that had been working without problem prior to the move. (Wayne himself appraised the piano shortly before the move and documented it to be in excellent condition regarding tone, touch-action, soundboard and regulation. My spouse and I were present during the appraisal and both of us witnessed Wayne testing the sustain pedal which worked fine.) Wayne told me the problem was due to a dislocated wooden dowel, a piece that is often knocked out of place when pianos of this particular make are moved around. One of his own deliverymen inspected underneath the piano to check the position of the dowel. It was still in place. He informed us that there was an internal problem to be fixed that he couldn't identify. I called Wayne and let him know that although the dowel was in place, the pedal wasn't working properly. I had no idea if fixing the pedal would be a simple (i.e., something a tuner could easily take care of free of charge) or complicated procedure. Consequently, I had no idea if the repair was going to be something Santa Rosa Music Center would be responsible for or not. I made no accusation and did not insist that Wayne take care of the repair. Nonetheless, Wayne was immediately defensive and rude insisting that he didn't do anything to my piano, that the problem was one any tuner could fix, and - spoken with complete confidence and assurance as if this were a common occurrence - that maybe someone had put a pencil on top of the piano that fell inside of it and that was the culprit. I found his penciI comment to be so bizarre and baffling that I asked for clarification. Did he mean that one of the movers might have accidentally dropped a pencil in the piano? He angrily shot back, “NO. My movers didn’t do anything to your piano!” My simple objective was that it to be clear between us that if the pedal were damaged upon transit, then I could expect Santa Rosa Music Center to cover the repair cost. I chose to discuss this immediately and directly with Wayne because the arrangements for the move were made verbally over the phone. I had no signed contract stating terms and conditions. Wayne was so belligerent, I found myself telling him many times that it's standard procedure for a moving company to cover any damages made to a customer’s property during a move, and that accidents happen (not that I was implying that there was any serious accidental damage). In response to his defensiveness, I explicitly stated that I was in no way making a personal attack. Nor was I questioning his professionalism or the competence of his movers. He told me he didn't like my tone though my tone throughout the conversation was polite and calm, while his was decidedly the opposite. After I told him I wasn’t making an ad hominem attack, he paused and said, “Okay.” But then, only seconds later, he complained that his movers had to wait 30-45 minutes to unload the piano. The movers arrived 30 minutes BEFORE the delivery window of time he had given us. (They called to let me know they had arrived.) My friends who were receiving the piano came home 15 minutes BEFORE the scheduled delivery window in order not to be late and let the movers into their home as planned. It seems the movers may have waited 15 minutes at the most, and certainly at no fault of my own or of my friends. When I asked him if he’d like me to cover the cost for the “extra” time, he said no, but told me how much his movers are paid an hour. It seemed that he was doing a "tit for "tat", as if to say that my piano may have been damaged, but I inconvenienced him somehow so we were even, or that I should feel badly about bringing up the malfunctioning pedal because I was responsible for making the movers wait and lose wages. The conversation ended abruptly when Wayne angrily spat, "You know what?! I am done with you!" and hung up the phone. While I don't yet know the exact cause of the pedal problem, - and I do hope it is something as minor as having to remove a small object that may have inadvertently fallen into the piano - the treatment I received from Wayne was abominable and inexcusable. He behaved beyond the pale. No costumer should be subject to such unprofessional behavior especially when the issue being brought up is appropriate and reasonable. I will never use Wayne’s services again. I do not recommend Santa Rosa Music Center at all.

I just had Santa Rosa Music Center move a grand piano from just north of Santa Rosa to Mountain View. I am very displeased with the center's extremely unprofessional customer service. The owner Wayne S. is surly, uncivil and combative. He complained that his deliverymen had to wait 30-45 minutes at the destination in Mountain View. The movers arrived 30 minutes earlier than he told us they would. (He told us the movers would be there between 1:30 and 2:30, and instead they arrived at 1:00). I was told this after I let him know that there was a problem with one of the pedals that wasn't there before the move. One of the deliverymen looked underneath the piano to make sure a wooden dowel that often gets dislocated when this brand of piano is moved was in place. It was. He informed us that there was some other internal problem that he couldn't identify. I called Wayne simply to let him know that the dowel was in place but the pedal still wasn't working properly. I wanted to make sure Wayne was informed of this before the piano was tuned just in case the tuner found a problem that wasn't minor and easily fixed. I didn't want to have any mistake made about when the problem existed so there would be no confusion about why I might be requesting that the pedal problem be covered by Santa Rosa Music Center. Wayne was immediately defensive and rude insisting that he didn't do anything to my piano, that it was something small any tuner could fix, and that maybe someone had put a pencil on top of the piano that fell inside the piano which would have messed up the pedal. He also said that he was "done with me" when he became frustrated when I told him I was simply putting forth a hypothetical situation where something other than what he suspects might be going on. He said he knew nothing happened to the piano because he spoke to the movers. But he wasn't part of the delivery process and things go wrong all the time in a move. I explained this to him and just wanted to be clear that if the piano was damaged upon transit that his company would be responsible for the repair, particularly because the arrangements for the move were made verbally over the phone. I had to tell him a number of times that it's customary for moving companies to cover any damages made to property during a move, and that I was in no way making an ad hominem attack;I was not questioning his professionalism or the movers competence. He told me he didn't like my tone though my tone throughout the conversation was polite and calm. After this exchange, he asked why his movers had to wait at Mountain View, and told me how much his movers are paid an hour. When I asked him if he wanted me to cover the cost for the wait time, he said he didn't. I commented that I wasn't sure why he was telling me about the wait unless he was expecting me to pay extra (as it seemed that he was doing a "tit for "tat", as if to say that my piano may have been damaged, but I inconvenienced the movers somehow so we're even or that I should feel badly about informing him about the malfunctioning pedal.). At that point, he again angrily said, "You know what? I am done with you." and hung up the phone. While I don't yet know the exact cause of the pedal problem, - and I do hope it is something as minor as having to remove a small object that may have inadvertently fallen into the piano - the treatment I received from Wayne was reprehensible and inexcusable. I will never use Santa Rosa Music Center's services again and I advise others to steer clear of this unprofessional business.