I just received an $85 reimbursement check in the mail from Yamaha USA today, to reimburse me for the shipping expense I paid to my local FedEX shipper (a few weeks ago) to have my Tyros shipped back to Yamaha USA for warranty (USB replacement part) repair. Yamaha offered to reimburse me for inbound shipping (to Yamaha) of my Tyros if I supplied them with the receipt (of which I did) so I really appreciate Yamaha for coming thru and reimbursing me the full $85 shipping amount, but here's the odd thing:

Also included in the letter with the reimbursement check was a'form letter' & an IRS W-9 form. Here's what the Yamaha form letter stated:


Dear Vendor:

Re: Form 1099 Tax Filing Requirements

The Internal Revenue Service requires us to obtain certain information from you to meet IRS Form 1099 filing requirements. Pursuant to Section 6109 of the IRS code, we are requesting that you furnish us your taxpayer id number.

Effective January 1, 1993, we are required to withold 31% from payments subject to 1099 reporting if the payee has not provided the taxpayer ID number to us.

For your convenience, we have attached Form W-9 and a return envelope. Please complete and sign the form and return to us as soon as possible.

Sincerely,


Director of Corporate Taxes
Yamaha Corp of America

It's clear (at least to me), that from the way the letter reads, that the letter was only intended for 'vendors' of Yamaha, of which I'm not whatsoever. Since I'm NOT a vendor of Yamaha, I suspect that the W-9 taxpayer ID/social security number request form was merely sent to me in error, and that I can just ignore it, right? I don't think I should have to provide Yamaha with my confidential Tax ID/social security number just for a reimbursement check, do you?

Since I've already successfully cashed the check, should I have to also make a 'toll call' to Yamaha USA to clear up this matter as well?

Advice & opinions appreciated.

Scott

Ignore it. Simple as that. It's a done deal. Ignore.

Ignore it--they screwed up. They're not paying you for services rendered, they're merely reimbursing your expenses, and they will deduct this at their end.

Gary

Thanks guys for your asssurances. - Scott

Scott, that letter was meant for a dealer. You don't need to worry about it.

Squeak

Yamaha went the extra mile for you Scott. Kudos to them for doing that. They weren't required to do so, you know. Being out of warranty and all.

Now the true test is to see if your Tyros' USB holds up over time and use.

Best regards,
Mike

Ok guys, with your blessings, I've gone ahead and tossed the Yamaha form letter & W9 form into the trash.

Mike: I'm elated to report that my Tyros USB connection now (following continued daily use) works PERFECTLY 100% of the time now, and in BOTH 'file utility' & 'Mass Storage HDD' modes as well. Mike, if you (or other Tyros owners here) are experiencing Tyros USB problems (flaky or no USB connectivity in either mode), I encourage you to contact Yamaha to arrange for the Yamaha Tyros USB hardware update. It completely corrects the USB problem, at least in my case. Since it's now (finally) an OFFICIAL Yamaha Tyros hardware fix, this IS covered under warranty by Yamaha as well.

As a pro Tyros player for almost 2 years now, it continues to REMAIN my performance keyboard of choice not only because of it's wide selection & high quality USE-ABLE (out of the box) sounds & styles, but for it's most USER FRIENDLY intuitive interface which includes its easy to view LARGE color LCD display navigation screen & buttons. I know better arranger keyboards may come along to entice & perhaps even grab my checkbook (Roland G70?! ), but for now, the Tyros remains at the top of my list, especially since I've now got it fully customized & personalized for just about each and every song in my repetoire. Just how much closer to perfection can you get?

- Scott

'KNOCK'..'KNOCK'....Alright Mr. Yee, we know you're in there....we've got the place surrounded...."Step away from the Keyboard!!"

Great Scott !!!
I mean.. that's great, Scott. I think Yamaha did well to send you this money. Enjoy it!! As for the letter....it's as clear as a Yamaha manual

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drdalet

Should have been 10 times the amount considering the publicity you gave them - even bad news is good news, right?