[CAUT] boston comments - guilt

[Albert Picknell]

--- On Tue, 11/17/09, Jeannie Grassi <jcgrassi at earthlink.net> 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
 
 
So, as far as this particular dealer is concerned, "most technicians" can deliver "the world" in four hours or less.  "Most technicians" must therefore be either miracle workers or shysters, and to satisfy this dealer you will have to become one or the other.
 
This is one reason I've promised myself, should I ever return to full-time private practice, that I simply won't do any work for any dealer without first doing my own assessment of the piano's needs (for which I expect to be paid), and then having the dealer sign a binding contract for all work that is to be done (which I won't start until I've been paid for the assessment).
 
I sure hope I do better at keeping this promise than some of the others I've made to myself!
 
Best of luck Jeannie,
Albert


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