How far is too far?

[Guy, Karen, and Tor Nichols]

At 10:20 AM 12/5/98 -0700, you wrote: 
>
> but what are some of the popular policies among other techs these days?  Did
> I charge enough? 
>   


Rob,
 As your neighbor in the corner of cactus-and-rock zone, I know about those
6-hour round trips. Our trip charge is a simple multiple of total travel hours
times $20 divided into however many pianos we do. That's cheap, but like Phil,
we encounter a lot of "once-every-five-years-whether-it-needs-it-or-not" units
that need a pitch-raise or extra work. Makes for long, rewarding days. As Phil
said (I love quoting not-so-newbies) " they
were happy..i had a good day..that's the name of the game, isn't it?" Local
customers are nice/friendly/etc., but the folks in the sticks and bumps out
here are super-nice about stuff like lunch, etc. My biggest problem is when
we're on the phone, date set, price confirmed, and they ask the final
question:
"You got four-wheel drive, right?"  I mean, I like off-road play enough,
but it
makes the time/miles ratio go to heck, and the trip charge doesn't always
reflect that. 
 On the other hand, long drives are great for listening to music, or
books-on-tape, or educational stuff, or photography, or whatever. Sometimes
just plug in the -30db protectors and zone out on the desert.
(stayawakestayawakestayawake)
 Do what's best for you, and count on great referrals from the people you've
served. You'll soon have a waiting list that can fill any spot left by a
DOA or
a no-show.


ps...... ignore what Wim said about your experiment. He doesn't know the
difference between "wasting" and "investing" time at the computer!    big <g>
Guy Nichols, Member, PTG
nicho@lascruces.com



	
              "Not everything that counts can be counted,
               and not everything that can be counted counts." 
				                          Albert Einstein