[CAUT] boston comments - guilt

[Fred Sturm]

Hi Jeannie,
	I agree with David Kirkland that 6-18 hours is a fairly reasonable,  
conservative estimate of what would be needed to prep a piano out of  
the box to that description. It is always wise to do some more  
communication before the fact, so everyone is clear, but a promise  
like that looks pretty open-ended to me. If the dealer had different  
expectations and limits, they should have been conveyed before you  
were hired to fulfill the terms.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu
On Nov 17, 2009, at 11:55 AM, Jeannie Grassi wrote:

> David, and everyone else,
> I find this thread extremely timely since I just completed "full in- 
> home
> concert prep to the customer's satisfaction" on a Boston 193. (The  
> words in
> quotes were what was written on the sales agreement.)  The piano had  
> just
> been uncrated with only a quick pitch put on it the day it arrived  
> in the
> store.  It was sent to the client within a couple of days after  
> that.  This
> was a discerning musician with specific tastes and requests and to  
> make the
> sale, the dealer promised her the world.
>
> So I gave her all that she was promised, or at least what I  
> understood she
> was promised. (Therein laid my mistake.) And my client was thrilled  
> when I
> was done.  However, I found the action needed a great deal of work  
> and spent
> an easy 12 hours on it, pitch correction and fine tuning included.   
> It is a
> nice piano, but not all of them come out of the box needing only a  
> little
> tweaking.
>
> The unfortunate part is that the dealer only wants to pay me for 4  
> hours of
> labor justifying it by saying "most technicians don't need to spend  
> more
> than that."  Interestingly, David Kirkland told me, depending on the
> variables, one might expect to anywhere from 6 to 18 hours.  This is  
> way
> more in keeping with my past experiences.
>
> So, while I also could have spent a minimum amount of time there is  
> the
> occasion when more is just enough.
>
> Jeannie Grassi, RPT
> Bainbridge Island, WA
>