More advice needed

[Clyde Hollinger]

Friends,

Thanks so much for those of you who gave additional advice.  I used as much
of it as I could.  I thought you might want to know the final outcome.

I was glad I hadn't attempted to sell her any of the leather interior or
sound system options Dan Dannenfelser mentioned, since I really do want to
do business on the safest moral, legal, and ethical level.  As Jim Bryant
suggested, I called the client and offered to absorb the cost of the
screwdriver, which greatly relieved her.  I also took Keith McGavern's
advice and told her she could send the money in three equal payments, one
Tuesday, one Wednesday, and one Thursday.  When she heard that she became
positively ecstatic, and it is now obvious she would never consider any
other piano technician in the world.  I'm sure we'll be friends for life
(she's 97).

Some advice I really had no need for, as things worked out.  There was
really no need to request the services of Bubba, Ron Nossaman's friend, I
guess.  Although I appreciated Willem Blees mentioning the bankruptcy
option, that won't be necessary now either, thank you, since I'll have my
money by the end of the week.

As for suing the supplier that sold me the tilter, as Tom Robinson
suggested, well, you see, that might make them hopping mad and they might
not want me as a customer anymore, and then I might have to open an account
with [name deleted].  THEN where would I be, huh?!

Actually, Tom, the idea of splitting the cost of the SUV between this client
and the next two who own spinets has some merit, in my opinion, if I modify
it a little.  How about adding to *every* spinet owner's bill a third of the
cost of an SUV?  Now I could see how that might add to my annual income, but
I might have to listen to my "Psychology of Selling" cassettes once or twice
more before implementing this strategy.

I forget who mentioned the idea of suing the car manufacturers for not
taking into consideration the needs of the world's piano technicians.
Personally, I think that's probably overkill and also likely to stir up
animosity.  It seems to me that a kind letter sent to the top brass of
General Motors, along with a box of those gooey Easter candy marshmallow
peeps ($1.59), would be much kinder and still have the desired effect.

Ah, well, I'm glad some of you enjoyed the joke.  I was eagerly watching for
some April 1 spoof, but when it got to 5 p.m. and none had yet appeared
(that I recognized, anyway), we just couldn't let the day go by without
SOMEthing, could we?

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger

Clyde Hollinger wrote:

> Friends:
>
> I have gained so much from this list that I put a lot of weight on
> advice I receive here, but recently it got me in a peck of trouble.
> Some time ago someone wrote saying that they needed a particular tool to
> repair a piano.  This person was advised to just add the cost of the
> tool to the final bill.
>
> A client of mine has a "Grand" spinet (no way to tell the age, but
> probably made in the 70's) that groaned every time you used the sustain
> pedal, and upon investigation I realized that the bottom board screws
> were loose.  I didn't have a piano tilter, so I tuned the piano, then
> made an appointment  to come back in about four weeks to fix the groan
> after I had time to buy a tilter.
>
> I ordered a tilter from Schaff, but when it came I couldn't get it in my
> car!  After fuming a while I finally decided to buy an SUV to haul it
> in, then went to fix the piano.  After tilting the piano, my screwdriver
> (which had considerable wear on it) just stripped out the rusty
> Phillips-head screws, so I had to go to the hardware store for a new
> one.  I got the piano fixed and had the client check it out.  She was
> pleased, so I went home and sent her the bill.
>
> That's when my trouble started.  The next day I got this awful phone
> call from her about the charges.  But I only did as I read on this list,
> adding to the charge the things I needed to fix the piano.  The repair
> was $40.00,  plus $9.95 for the screwdriver, $243.29 for the tilter
> (with shipping), and the SUV (which cost considerably less than normal
> because I traded in my car).  So why is this lady upset with my bill of
> $18,585.01?  And what do I do now?  If she doesn't pay, I'll have to
> sell the SUV and go through this whole headache again the next time I
> need to use the tilter.  Help!!
>
> Regards,
> Clyde Hollinger