How far is too far?

[Frank Cahill]

Robert Goodale wrote:
> 
> ***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


Jim Harvey is the guy to talk to!  He does this kind of service all the
time.
-- 

Frank Cahill
Associate Member
Northern Va