I recently (end of last week) picked my flute up from being serviced. All that was wrong with it really was it needed a bit of felt replacing that had fallen off, and just a general service as it hadn't been done...well, ever. (It's a relatively new flute though. Sankyo, not exactly cheap). I paid £45 for this to be done.

Now the problem is that I really think it's come back playing worse. I've been playing my baroque flute a lot lately though and have hardly played my modern one. I don't know whether to put it down to being unused to the keys, so them feeling more clunky than they used to be to me, or whether they are actually worse. I have however been playing this flute for a few years, and have been playing the flute for about 12 so I think I should know what feels right or not. I know I've certainly gained an unusual click on my right hand pinky key. It's not the pad, and I can't see where it would be in the mechanism either. The F# key doesn't close properly unless you use a lot of effort, and all right hand keys feel harder to close than before. I swear there's more scratches on it than when I took it in too.

The thing is, do I take it back and see what they do about it, or go somewhere else to get it done again? I don't know if I want to trust them with it again, but should I give them another chance just in case this is a one off? This place is a fair distance and I can't drive so I'd need to get a lift there.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If you've paid for a service you have a legal right to receive a standard that you're happy with - protected under the 1974 consumer act from what I remember. If you're not happy, take it back (or phone them first if travelling's a problem) and clearly and calmly state your concerns. Main thing is is not to go in angry and shouting the place down; just phrase it to say that you'd like the mechanism checked because it's developed the clicking since it was brought in and its a lot tighter than you're used to; even maybe that you think the pads may be leaking because of the extra force you have to use. If they're a good repairer they should take it back and look at it again for no extra charge, may only need the screws adjusting or a spot of oil. If they get uppity about it, just say it's not the "standard of service you'd have expected when they'd been highly recommended and you had gone out of your way to get to them when you could have gone elsewhere closer/sent it away" or something like that. If they're still funny, just explain that you're not happy and they've lost a paying customer as servicing repairs can be a lot more expensive than that and often a 'customer for life' with a treasured flute! Whether you then tell others about the bad customer service is up to you.

Proving the scratches etc may be more difficult however as I think you'd have needed to take photos etc of it before taking it in to show they weren't there before, but as you say the service should have cleaned it up rather than making it tattier.

Just thought after posting this - if it's a relatively new flute is it not still protected under Sankyo's warranty? Could approach them and say that it was faulty, although they may ask why you didn't go to them first since the repairer may have invalidated any guarantees.

Thanks for the advice. I took it back and they accepted it with no problem. I'm awaiting their call to say it's done, but I'll let you know the results.

It's not new enough to be under warranty. It's not actually faulty, it just needed a service.