West Allis business won't return heirloom pianos, customers say

Yahoo

14 hours ago

The Brief
Cassandra Kaminski sent her piano to Neuhaus Piano Workshop for repairs in 2023. She says the business has stopped responding to calls and emails about her piano's return.
Court records show the owner of the business, Tom Neuhaus, owes five customers more than $170,000 in judgments for missing pianos.
Other unhappy customers have filed reports about pianos not being returned to them with West Allis Police, who are investigating Kaminski's case.
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Customers trusted a West Allis business with heirloom pianos. Years later, they wonder what's happened to their treasured instruments.
What we know
When Cassandra Kaminski plays a piano, she remembers her grandparents. Kaminski was about 12 years old when her grandma took her to a piano warehouse to pick out a 1930s Charles Frederick Stein piano.
"My grandma helped raise me and she wanted to give me lessons," said Kaminski. "It's such an important memory to me. We tried all of the pianos. We played every single one."
Kaminski used to play that piano every day. In 2012, her grandma died, and years later, her grandpa got dementia. She says her grandpa neglected the piano in his final years and the keys stuck.
"He was not keeping up with the maintenance of his property," said Kaminski. "He asked me once, 'Why don't you play the piano anymore?'"
Kaminski and her family made the decision to repair and refinish the instrument. In 2023, she hired Tom Neuhaus of Neuhaus Piano Workshop to get the piano playing properly.
In May 2025, Kaminski met with Contact 6 at a Muskego warehouse, where her piano is being kept in pieces. Some of the piano parts are missing.
"It's frustrating. It's heartbreaking," said Kaminski. "This is not how you run a business. This is not how you treat people."
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
Kaminski says Neuhaus removed her piano's "interior hardware" for repairs and hasn't given it back.
The rest of her instrument was sent to CT Refinishing to refresh the instrument's exterior. That work finished months ago.
"[CT Refinishing} did a beautiful job," said Kaminski.
Kaminski's piano can't be reassembled until Neuhaus sends back the musical components he's supposed to repair, like its harp, key bed and dampers. She says Neuhaus missed his January 2025 deadline.
Kaminski says she's already paid him $5,500.
"He's like, "oh, I'm sorry. I've been sick. I'm heavily sedated in a hospital bed," said Kaminski. "All of a sudden, I'm seeing tons of horrible reviews about people that can't get their pianos back."
Kaminski says Neuhaus stopped responding to her calls and emails.
"On my gosh, did I just get scammed out of my piano?" Kaminski asked herself. "I spent probably a full week bawling my eyes out."
Dig deeper
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives Neuhaus Piano Workshop an 'F' rating.
Neuhaus Piano Workshop is near 81st and Greenfield, where Contact 6 found its front doors locked. Items visible through the front windows appeared dusty.
West Allis Police confirm they're investigating Cassandra's case.
They're also investigating whether Neuhaus is violating the West Allis sex offender ordinance by listing the shop as his residence.
Twenty years ago, Neuhaus was convicted of sexually assaulting three students at Cedarburg High School between 1996 and 2003. A criminal complaint says Neuhaus was a stage director at the school supervising drama activities.
What they're saying
In 2017, Neuhaus spoke with Contact 6 about another unhappy customer, Karen Fields. Three years prior, Fields sent her Schulz player baby grand piano to Neuhaus Piano Workshop in for repairs. She still hasn't gotten her piano back. https://www.fox6now.com/news/theres-just-a-lot-of-sentimental-value-contact-6-assists-in-effort-to-repair-antique-piano
"I don't like this," Neuhaus said in 2017. "My father and I both prided ourselves on getting things done."
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
Neuhaus' interview with Contact 6 took place one year after the death of his dad, Arnold Neuhaus, who founded the piano workshop in 1957.
"I inherited all his work," said Neuhaus in 2017. "I don't have anybody working for me full-time who can do this work."
Timeline
West Allis Police reports reveal that Neuhaus continued taking on more work.
A woman told police in 2024 that she gave Neuhaus a 1938 Baldwin baby grand piano in 2019. She said she'd last made contact with Neuhaus in 2020, and "since then he has not returned any calls or messages sent to him."
In 2022, two unhappy customers told West Allis Police they gave Neuhaus a 1927 Steinway model piano in 2020 "to be refurbished and sold at the store." They told police they hadn't been able to reach him since 2021.
The report states, "They have tried calling, sending letters, and going to the store in person, however, he is never there or available."
Attorney William Rinehart, managing partner of Rinehart, Scaffidi & Rinehart, has represented some of Neuhaus' unhappy customers in court.
"In my viewpoint, this goes well beyond being bad at your job or even negligence," said Rinehart. "It would go beyond gross negligence."
Rinehart was hired to help a Minnesota family collect their piano from Neuhaus, plus a nearly $80,000 civil court judgment. Circuit Court records show Neuhaus owes five customers more than $170,000 in unpaid judgments.
"To my knowledge, he has not paid any judgments, and he has not returned any piano," said Rinehart.
In 2024, Rinehart found Neuhaus also owed more than $80,000 in unpaid taxes.
"The property has tax obligations, tax warrants, attached to it," said Rinehart. "Therefore, it cannot be liquidated in order to satisfy, or at least partially satisfy, some of these consumer judgments."
Contact 6 spoke with customer Don Lamb, who hired Neuhaus to tune and refinish a Herbert player piano in 2021. Lamb's parents bought the piano from Neuhaus' father in 1959.
"I learned to play piano on it," said Lamb. "It's the one we had in the basement. There was a box full of piano rolls and we would play our favorite songs."
Lamb hasn't seen the piano since 2021 despite paying Neuhaus about $5,000. He lives in Germany and plans to ship the piano overseas.
"I made a visit to Milwaukee in February 2024 to see the piano and see the progress. I sent (Neuhaus) four emails, to which he responded to none. Nor did he show up at the date and time that I specified I would be there," said Lamb.
After Kaminski sent her piano to Neuhaus for repairs, her grandpa passed away. She says the piano is her sole inheritance from her grandparents.
Seeing the piano today, silent and hollow, feels like a tangible metaphor for her loss.
"It was like losing my childhood," said Kaminski. "[Pianos] hold a lot of sentimental value for people. Why would you refurbish a piano if you didn't care about it?"
Neuhaus didn't respond directly to Contact 6's email, text or phone call.
Bill Valentine, who identified himself as Neuhaus' friend, responded on his behalf. Valentine said that Neuhaus' business suffered during the pandemic when piano sales dropped. He stated that Neuhaus has another day job and works on pianos in the evenings.
According to Valentine, Neuhaus doesn't speak with customers anymore. Instead, Valentine takes their messages and calls people back.
Lamb says after Contact 6 reached out to Neuhaus Piano Workshop on his behalf, he was able to schedule a meeting at the business in June. A family member will assess the piano and it may be returned to Lamb. It's unclear what repairs have been made and whether all parts are accounted for.
Valentine said he would look into whether Kaminski's piano can be returned. Contact 6 received Valentine's message on May 22nd. Kaminski says she hasn't gotten any updates from the workshop.
Contact 6 will post more updates to this story as they become available.
The Source
Information for this report comes from interviews with Cassandra Kaminski, Don Lamb and William Rinehart. Contact 6 reviewed records from Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Waukesha County Circuit Court, the West Allis Police Department and the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry. Records for another case were provided by Rinehart. Kaminski and Lamb provided receipts, contracts, emails and text messages.