new piano

[jolly roger]

>
>Well, in a word, Gina, YES. Their reputations are on the line. It's
>simple self-interest on their part.
>
>Susan
> 
Absolutely yes to self interest.  If the reg, tightening and tuning ect is
done well, prior to delivery, far less DOA's  ( Dead on Arrival)  It's a
darn sight faster to travel a set of hammers on the bench than in the
customers home.
In home service we try for 30-60 days. That way I tell the contract techs,
no pay for pitch raises.  <G> It does not always work this way but we keep
trying.  We have found that two or three shorter term interval tunings at
the beginning of a pianos life, goes a long way to stabalize it. 
New pianos that are sharp we tune to A441 or A442.  Mother nature will take
care of the pitch soon enough.  If a new piano needs a serious pitch raise,
we do the raise to A441.  Again mother nature takes care of the pitch quite
quickly.  Most pianos arrive sharp.  Once in the home then it is usually
A440, unless during summer months the piano is sharp, again we will tune it
where it sits if sharp.
While I believe Damp chasers are benificial, I like to see the whole
enviroment tackled first.  With institutions we try and sell both Damp
chasers and  to the floor protective cover, with the sale of the piano.
Competitive market conditions vary all over.  This is true for both dealers
and techs.  The number of price shopping consumers is increasing.  So in
some markets it is hard for a tech to get paid for good service.   What
happens.  We start to see techs just doing one pass and tuning the piano
where it sits. Is this right? No, of coarse not.  But under certain market
conditions the tech's start to look at their self interest.  Time vs
renumeration.  Now the dealers start to pick up on these practices and bad
mouths the tech's just like many on this list seem to get pleasure bad
mouthing dealers.  
This is a lose, lose, situation for ALL concerned.  We need more
understanding and education, and less bad mouthing to gain more credibility
to our profession.
We have to start by trying with the education of teachers ( major market
influencers).   Then to prove to dealers that this is a wise investment.
We need our Dealer/Manufacturer, tech relations committee to start thinking
proactively, and creatively.  So we can come up with some programmes that
will work.
Each one of us has to do our bit, and take an educative proactive approach,
with out name calling.
It's hard and frustrating I know, but we have to keep trying.  Name calling
on the list will change nothing.  One lecture to your music teachers group
in your area will effect change.  Bringing up the topic at your chapter
meeting in a positive manner will effect change.  Having the chapter work
with dealers as a body is proactive. It can change our image.  Like it or
not we don't have a good one with most dealerships.   Is it our fault or
theirs?   Smell the coffee guy's, it's both.
For goodness sake lets get positive, and leave the name calling to small
minded people.

Just my view of things.
Roger