Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)

[Tom Servinsky]

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Terry,
I feel for ya brother. I too have "been there done that".  However, no =
matter how frustrating old uprights are, there's a silver lining to your =
story.
I think Dale Erwin's reply on this subject is pretty much on the money.  =
The customer has to be told upfront what costs should be expected, along =
with the potential for additional charges for extra required work.=20
   Old uprights, bless their honky tonk hearts, are usually land mines =
for breakage of actions parts and strings.  Lets face it...old uprights =
are old, very old.  And many have not been kept up to snuff, thus the =
problems increase.  To make matters worse, customers who normally buy =
old uprights ( and I'm speaking from our part of the woods), usually are =
looking for the bargain of the century.  They paid no more than $100,  =
probably moved it themselves, and now are calling  you to give them the =
blue light special.
So you accept their job and go out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready =
to transform this beast into a thing of musical beauty. You've agreed on =
the price, naively, and start the job.
Then it starts...one jack breaks, then other, then a string pops, then =
the inevitable...brass flanges begin breaking one by one, and your worst =
nightmare begins to unfold. The schedule for the day has just been =
ruined. Hours later you resurface from the nasty pit, bewildered. Then =
you go home, still dazed, hoping to get sympathy from your loved =
one...zilch, then come to the realization that the only comfort you need =
is a healthy dose of Pianotech Chat to hear the countless others who =
have been through the same darn thing.
   As I said earlier, there is a silver lining to this story.  Now you =
have something very valuable which will benefit your financial picture =
for the rest of your working life: experience.
I find that with "old upright" customers, not to be confused with old, =
upright customers,  I either charge extremely high for the job, full =
knowingly I'm committing myself for the major part of the day,or =
graciously bow out during the initial phone conversation.  The other =
option is to refer them to your least favorite competitor. Doing a =
"quickie" tuning on old uprights, especially ones which haven't been =
serviced in a long time, is simply a dream, just a dream.
For the record, my rant on this subject has nothing to do with the =
quality and workmanship that obviously went to the making of these =
pianos. Many are fine examples of piano manufacturing.
But in the real world, you are trying to make a good living for =
yourself, offering a good quality service. However, the reality is that =
many of these instruments have been schluffed off  from family to family =
and basically have become destitute. The problems are extensive and the =
financial reserves many of these customers are limited. Something has =
got to give. The customer feels you are the one who should give in. You =
feel the customer needs to buck up. The tug of war begins.=20
I seldom take on any new customers with the old upright situation.  I =
have come to the conclusion, as you have, that some of these customers =
simply don't want to pay more the basic low ball price. And then they =
expect you to perform miracles.
Somewhere in this free world you have to be able to make a buck.
Tom Servinsky, RPT

----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Erwinpiano=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 12:29 AM
  Subject: Fw: Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)



  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Farrell To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 6:27 AM
  Subject: Re: Under an=20

  . I wish we could charge strictly by the hour.
     I came into this thread a little late Soooooooo
    Am I missing something?  Why don't you, every other business does. =
Any way a good flat rate is supposed to encompass prep,drive and work =
time.


  The old upright. The old upright. Geeeeezzz. The old upright. Hmmm. =
First you spend 20 minutes trying to talk the owner out of doing =
anything with it. After failure at that (although I do not always =
fail!), you tune three notes - pound in a tuning pin - tune a few more - =
now you gotta stop because you have a jack flange unglued - fix that - =
bla, bla, bla, - hammers flying off - bla, bla, bla, - you know the =
picture here - even though you charge extra to fix the jack flange and =
unglued hammer butt leather, and broken hammer, etc., etc., it still =
slows you down big time. I find that old uprights will take anywhere =
from 1 to 2 hours to tune - plus the repairs.
    =20
  TerryBeen there done that!
  =20
     Time in customers home plus travel time , multiply by your hourly =
rate. What's the problem?  Educating the customer is the problem and =
that starts on the phone with an explanation of cost based on time =
spent. Yes some people will not go for anything but the Lowest price in =
town ( so what)but what are they going to get for that ? The possibly =
worst most unstable tuning money can buy.
   Quality most be sold and then proven when given the oppurtunity.
   =20
  So here I tune pianos in 45 minutes to 2 hours and charge the same =
thing (actually I do charge the same for all except $5 more for spinets =
and $10 more for old uprights). This is dictated by piano owners =
expecting one price for tuning.
    =20
      Change their expectations.

  The point? Just trying to understand how others work some of this out. =
Thanks.

  Terry Farrell

       Terry, when a potential client calls we quote a price range =
between 90 and 125 shekels of silver with the explanation of why and =
also the posibility that the piano could possibly need other work and =
that I (or you or somebody) can assess that while tuning. Mostly this =
scares off the low end that are only calling for my every other-decade =
tune up. Yawnnnnn. These people are the worst clients and almost a waste =
of your effort. They tell no one else about you and you spent a =
herculean effort for the not enough shekels one price fits all tuning =
fee to try to straighten out thir Sorry& and Yuck( I really liked that)

  Hope that helps. Just my two cents worth.
   =20
   Dale Erwin
  -----=20

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