How far is too far?

[Robert Goodale]

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***How Far is Too Far?***

(Experimenting with this new color thingy- kinda cool huh?)


I had an interesting day last Wednesday.  For those who are not
familiar with the state of Arizona, a HUGE percentage of it is
indian reservation with numerous little villages dotted around
the desert.

As you might expect, it's pretty tough finding a technician who
is willing to drive out to some of the more remote places to tune
pianos.  Recently I was asked, (begged), if I would come out to a

remote village to tune a few pianos.  I agreed but told them I
would only do a minumum of 5 and that it would cost them $75
each.  They agreed until the day before I was to leave.  Then I
was told they could only round up 3 pianos.  Well at this point I
had already adjusted my schedule accordingly, but I said it would
now cost $100 each.   I had no idea how long it would actually
take me to reach this place.  As it turned out it was 3 hours
each way!  And this was over expansive desert on 2-lane roads.

Well as it turned out two of the pianos were relatively new
Yamaha P22s.  They were easy in-easy out.  The third, however,
was a Baldwin Accrosinic in a church which had not been serviced
in years.  The pitch was a half step flat, the hammers were
grooved, and the action was so crudded up with dust that the
hammers would barely move.  They get huge dust storms out there
and it gets inside everything.  Well I easily persuaded them into
letting me do the extra needed work, and in about 3-1/2 hours I
got it playing pretty decent again.  They were happy campers.

Well my take for the day was well over $400.00 but I had to drive
6 hours to get it in untested territory.  It ended up being about
a 12-hour day.  Soooo.... the question is, how far is too far?  I
realize that this is largely personal preference, but what are
some of the popular policies among other techs these days?  Did I
charge enough?


Rob Goodale, RPT

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