..good morning all..some off topic stuff

[Phil Bondi]

..i recently purchased, at the recommendation of a friend, 2 Holly
Cole Trio CD's..in the credits, there is actually credit given to the
piano..Piano: Steinway And Sons from Remenyl House Of Music in
Toronto..of course there's no credit given to the tech who prepared
it..why does that bug me?..certainly we're more important to the sound
of the record than the go-fer who gets lunch for the players and the
engineers, and the go-fer will get credit LONG before a piano tech
will..

..anyway if any of you are interested in Jazz and haven't heard Holly,
I recommend both TRIO CD's..

..I also purchased a new CD from Eric Reed - Pure Imagination..as soon
as this fabulous player started playing, I could tell it he was
playing a CFlllS..there's no credit given on the CD, but I'll bet a
dollar to your penny that I'm right..

..why am I saying this?..I don't know..my last remaining brain cell
just left me and I'm trying to find it!..

..Thank God for the Dealer..now how many people can say that?..I
recently did a bunch of PianoDisc service calls, some which required
parts from Sacramento..I've put in quite a bit of time and effort and
Long Distance on my cell phone getting these customers happy
again..come to find out, PianoDisc will not cover labor costs..boy,
what a slap in the face that was..I did not do the installations to
these pianos..I've only done 2 in my breif career and neither has
required any service..yet..

..I spoke with someone who is near and dear to PianoDisc yesterday and
this person told me that any labor charges should be charged to the
customer..sorry folks, I can't do this..that's right..i said I _can't_
do that..I have a problem with this and perhaps those on this list who
are more experienced with Player Installs and Service can help correct
my way of thinking..let me offer a scenario:

..let me first say that the following is NOT..NOT a criticism..it is a
scenario that i want new people like myself to try and avoid BEFORE
diving into a venture like this..

..a PianoDisc customer calls and says my piano is making some weird
noises..it sounds electrical to me..

..I go to the customers home(1/2 hr.drive time), troubleshoot the
problem(1 hr. min), and then tell that customer that I have to order a
new Power Supply for you..now Piano Disc has been *suggesting* to me
for months that I need to *invest* approximently $1,200 in parts to
have on hand..I just don't have that kind of money to *invest* in
parts..I'm not real comfy with a volt probe yet, either..but anyway..

..PD sends a Power Supply Next-Day Air..very cool..I call the customer
and set up another appointment to install the new Power supply..

..when the new Power Supply is installed (1/2 hr. drive time, 1 hr.
min labor), come to find out, the Power Supply is NOT the
culprit..noise is still happening..LOUD noise..call Sacramento yet
again from the customers home( I should own stock in Cellular One!)
and trouble shoot on-site with Tech Support..it's the Sound
Card..so..I remove the sound card so the customer can enjoy piano
music from the available library, but will not be able to have any
background sounds..have I mentioned yet that this customer is not at
all impressed?..

..PD sends a new sound card..I call the customer again and set up
another appointment..go to the customer's home and install the new
Sound Card( 1/2 hr. drive, 1 hr. min labor)..the problem for the
customer is solved..and I leave that customer with a smile on their
face..i touched up unisons while I was there..they appreciated
that..and asked me to call them in November to tune the piano..

..now if you add up all the times in my parenthesis, it totals 4.5
hrs., including my drive time..now I know I'm nit-picking as far as
drive time is concerned, but I am the only PD Service tech for a 60-70
mile radius..so i'm entitled to nit-pick..

..i just did over 1/2 days work for NOTHING..sorry folks, but I'm not
in this business for gratus work..that ain't gonna pay for my
daughter's college education or my sons or my retirement..especially
when _I_ _DID_ _NOT_ do the installation on said piano..all of a
sudden I'm working for the sheer pleasure of working?..hah!..

..I called the dealer who sold these pianos and these player units..he
realizes that someone needs to compensate me..and we work together
very well..so he's gonna foot the bill, provided I *take it easy on
him*..and I will..this dealer has been a great source of customers for
me..

..thank god for the dealer..

..again, I know I mentioned PianoDisc by name and scenario, and again,
please understand, that was NOT a criticism towards them..they have
been VERY supportive to me..until now..and it's my own fault for not
realising that they do not cover labor costs..and I WILL NOT charge
the customer any labor costs..unless one or a few of you can convince
me otherwise..