PTG standards for pitch raises.

[BSimon1234@AOL.COM]

Dear list:

Seems to me that this is a PTG sponsored list, most of you are PTG members,
and that in a real  "PROFESSIONAL" way, the PTG is failing a reasonable
responsibility, which is to define what actually comprises a pitch raise.  I
have attended many PTG conventions, and have never seen a consensus on how
many cents raise actually constitutes a pitch raise. There certainly is no
agreement on this list!

 I seldom feel the urge to post to this list, but the discussions of pitch
raising and what to charge for it have gotten ridiculous.  ($240.00 for a 100
cents raise?  Well, stick it to ‘em!)

Seems to me  like some technicians out there consider a raise of 4 cents to be
a pitch raise, and that any pitch raise is a huge deal, and therefore one
should charge all the market can bear. Whether or not that is your individual
attitude, and there is no law against it,  one cannot even begin to think that
this is "professional" behavior.  I know, I know,  ---just to be paid is to be
a professional, ---therefore what you do, and this behavior, is professional.
Bullshit!

Even lowly barbers are "Professional" to a degree far beyond the tuners on
this list because they have to be certified, there are educational and
licensing requirements, there is a state board of examiners for accountability
and responsibility, etc. There are also standard "reasonable and customary "
charges which can be determined beforehand.

No one on this list would think it acceptable for the car dealership to
suddenly charge you $200.00 per hour to fix your car, instead of the $42.00
standard rate, because they know you really needed your car this weekend.
Their billing could be challenged in court, and they would lose!

I am not advocating that tuners should be licensed by the state, I do not
think they should be. A customer, however, should be able to call a
technician, state that they absolutely know they need only a pitch raise and
tuning, on a piano that is otherwise perfect, and you should be able to give
the total cost over the phone.  Until that happens, until there is a "pitch
raise standard" - many tuners on this list will be  more closely related to
con-artists than “professionals”.

The Piano Technician’s Guild has done a great deal  to raise standards of
piano tuners, and is in a perfect position to set some “standards of practice”
which will increase the legitimacy of the profession of piano service, and
increase their own legitimacy and influence in the process. 

I seriously lost interest in the PTG organization when out of 20 members at a
local PTG meeting, not one wanted to  go and look at, let alone testify in
court, that it was improper pin tapping  of a grand piano, without supporting
the pinblock, that  delaminated the pinblock of a little old lady’s piano and
prevented action removal.  ( It was discussed that no one could point to any
PTG technical standards that said so!) Heck, - to try to fix that problem the
clod installed a couple of big bolts to try to pull the pinblock together
again, and THEY stuck down too far to allow removal of the action!

That is my 25 cents! - (Now there’s a pitch raise!)

Bill Simon
NOT a PTG member.
Tuning for over 20 years in Phoenix, AZ.