Pitch raise

[wtscherer]

James Allen Bickerton wrote:

I performed a Pitch Raise/Tuning on an old Wurlitzer Spinet (1969).  It
took about 3 hours and was difficult at best because the piano was very
unstable (probably due to not being tuned in years), and when trying to
fine tune a string, it would jump from sharp to flat (i.e. the tuning
pins were sloppy).....  Satisfied that I had performed the tuning to the
best of my ability, I promptly wrote out my standard Pitch Raise bill
($90.00),...

James Grebe responded:

I charge the same initial amount for a pitch raise as a regular tuning BUT
the customer will follow these guidelines or I do not raise the pitch:

If the piano is over 25% low I make the appointment for the second tuning
in 2 weeks. I spend the normal time (1 hour) explaining that the piano will
be moving around in this 2 weeks and for them not to be alarmed as they
hear it go out of tune.  After that I retune again in 3 months with each
tuning the normal fee.

On pianos between 20% & 25% I insist on tuning again in 1 month.  Between
10% and 20% in 2 months with again each tuning normal price.  I make a big
deal out of explaining first the chance of string breakage and who is
financialy responsible for it if it happens (the client).

My response:

I also charge the regular amount ($65) for the initial tuning, but in order
to encourage owner responsibility and repeat business for me, I offer a 10%
discount to customers who have a second tuning within one year and 20% to
those who have a second tuning within 6 months. (This would include the 2
week and 3 month retunings James menioned for pitch raise.)

I haven't been in business long enough to know whether this plan will make
any difference in repeat business as compared to overall profits. I started
this practice after another tuner said that only about 40% of his customers
have regular (at least every year) tunings. Has anyone else used a similar
plan?

Have a good week!
Wally Scherer - Norfolk, Virginia