Has Yamaha's Certified Refurbished Piano Programme Ended?

This entire article comes from “word of mouth” sources.

You’ve probably seen the “Certified Refurbished by Yamaha” label on used pianos. It’s meant to reassure you that Yamaha itself stands behind the reconditioning work. Something may be changing, so here’s what I know, and what I don’t.

What I’m hearing

Several contacts in the piano trade have told me they believe Yamaha has stopped running this scheme in the UK. They say any remaining certified stock has already been sold on.

Nobody’s shown me anything in writing from Yamaha confirming this but several official Yamaha piano dealers have confirmed to me in person.

I’ve asked the wider piano trade directly. I posted the question on a well-known piano forum to see whether dealers elsewhere are seeing the same thing. I’ll update this page as soon as there’s a clearer answer.

Thorse co00he Taiwan connection

While looking into this, I found the website of a piano refurbishment factory in Taiwan. On its own site, the company calls itself “the only designated refurbished second-hand piano factory by Yamaha in Japan.” It says it renovates more than 3,000 pianos a year for sale worldwide.

That’s the company’s own claim about itself. I haven’t been able to verify it with Yamaha.

I first wrote about this on our blog including a screengrab of the Taiwan claim, and I’ve been updating it as more comes in.

## What this means if you’re buying

None of this should put you off a lovely secondhand Yamaha, certified or otherwise. It should just make you a sharper shopper. Ask your dealer plainly where the piano was refurbished, by whom, and what warranty backs it up.

If you already own a certified refurbished Yamaha, none of this changes your piano or your warranty. This is about where the trade goes from here, not about instruments already in people’s homes.

I’ll keep this page updated as soon as I hear something firmer, either from Yamaha directly or from dealers who can point to something solid rather than word of mouth.