This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment In this case, whether the piano needed tuning wasn't that subjective. = Using a Verituner, the dial didn't move, and the piano had a history of = being very stable. If the note is locked with a test blow, I don't see = the need to move the pin and put the string out of tune and then tune it = again. Some people do. I thought I was being nice. Clearly it was a = mistake, as it turned out, though the mistake was in part in her = critical thinking and apparent paranoia about being ripped off. Since I = reduced my fee for the service call to pretty much only cover the time I = was there, the motivation was hardly to get paid for doing nothing, and, = like I said, there were a couple of unisons to clean up. Had she = thought about it, she might have realized that I would have served my = own needs better by sticking around for another 20 minutes and gathering = up my full fee. Next time I will. This type of situation is rare and = the odds of encountering a similar situation are low so I'm not really = worried about it. But I am reminded that trying to do customers favors = in this business does seem to have a way of backfiring often. =20 David Love ----- Original Message -----=20 From: SidewaysWell1713@aol.com=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: December 27, 2002 7:04 AM Subject: Re: Complaints (was Aural versus ETD tuning training) In a message dated 12/26/02 3:18:40 PM Central Standard Time, = davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes: Gee, I wonder what he told her? Go figure. No good deed goes unpunished. I think next time I'll just find something wrong = whether it's there or not. You'll never know but obviously, whatever you said was not the right = thing. I run into this a lot. I do contract tunings for a local = dealer. His staff makes calls to customers and schedules tunings. Many = of these have humidity control systems and after I've tuned them a few = times, they get to be quite stable. I still tune them all through twice = completely, sometimes thinking that it will take enough time to make the = time I have been there seem reasonable. It ends up meaning better = unisons if nothing more. Finding a few extra things to improve, servicing the humidity control = system fills out the 45 minutes. But one thing I've learned never to = say is that the piano didn't really need tuning or that it wasn't very = much out of tune. That is always a subjective opinion anyway. I often feel the same way when I go to the Dentist twice a year, = particularly when they force me to have X-Rays taken. In 25 years, not = a single X-Ray ever revealed the need for any additional work. I often = feel that the Dentist (who is a Steinway owner and also my customer of = 25 years), doesn't really like to see me because he has never yet done a = single thing but look and tell me that everything looks fine. Only the = hygienist does a little work and periodically, they take those = uncomfortable X-Rays! Do I feel cheated? No. Would I go somewhere = else just to find someone who would actually *do* something? No. Instead, I enjoy the satisfaction of telling the stable piano = customers that, yes, the piano was "due" for tuning but it has done very = well under my care. If you let them think they have paid for = unnecessary service, they'll dump you! By the way, your last comment which I quoted is quite important in = custmer relations as well, (see President Nolan Zeringue's recent = Journal message) You get called about something being "wrong", you find = "nothing", what you do is say, "Well, let me see if I can find the = trouble..." and go ahead and find something. There is no such thing as = a *perfect* piano. If you say there is nothing wrong and leave, it's = the last time you'll ever see that customer or piano. You all know me and you all know I haven't tuned in ET since mid 1989. = Of all the "complaints" I ever get, it's never about *temperament* = except way back in the beginning of my use of HT's when I talked too = much about them and used temperaments which were too strong for general = use. When there is a complaint about a piano going out of tune, it is = almost always legitimate, the piano has really gone out of tune and I = find, explain and do something about the reason for it which generally = improves the relationship with the customer. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin Click here: -=3Dw w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =3D-=20 ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/2a/10/19/66/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC