How far is too far?

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 98-12-05 12:15:09 EST, you write:

<< 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
  >>


First of all, your experimental thingy wasn't too impressive. It wasted time
ont he computer. 

To answer your question. Your time is the most valuable thing you have. If you
waste it, you waste money. On the other hand, these people deserve good
service. The quesiton is, are they willing to pay? 

The few times I have gone beyond my service area, I charge $1 per mile to get
there. The return trip is my responsibility. You did the right thing to get
them to get at least 4 pianos to tune. Since they only got 3, I would have
divided the trip charge between the three of them, and still charge the normal
fee for doing your work. 

WIllem Blees