Pitch Raise Fee Structure

[Farrell]

Hi List Again! How do you folks charge for pitch raising? - Per pass? Per
amount flat? One flat (no pun intended) fee?

I have been charging half my tuning fee per pass required. That is, a 30
cent pitch raise would be one pass and total charge for pitch raise would be
0.5 x tuning fee. A 100 cent pitch raise on a 50 year old piano might be two
passes on bass and tenor and three passes on treble for a total of 2-1/2
pitch raises and a fee of 1.25 x tuning fee.

The trouble with this structure is that it can be somewhat subjective as to
how many passes is required for any given piano, and I can't really state a
firm fee over the phone, i.e. "lady, if your piano is a quarter step flat it
will cost $X" - I have to go into this protracted explanation about piano
age, string corrosion, etc.

I have thought it might be better to just state "I charge $X per cent flat."
For me in my local and situation, $1 per cent would work well. It would
cover me for the nasty pianos - the older ones with corroded strings. I
would likely give a little discount for a newer piano - for instance, one
that was 60 cents flat - it would likely only require one pass and I would
only charge my old one-pass fee.

The problem I see with this system is again the phone thing. Me: "I charge
$1 per cent flat". Customer: "What is a cent". Sounds like a can of worms to
me.

Waddayoufolksdo?

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com