Fees

[pianolover 88]

I charge for everything i do. The tuning is one fee. Pitch adjustment is 
another fee. Voicing, regulation, cleaning job, these are ALL extra fees. Of 
course, I will usually do minor stuff in addition to the tuning, as long as 
it doesn't take more than a few extra mintues. Never a complaint as I lay 
out the charges ahead of time, and my customers are quite pleased. My 
customers also appreciate when i educate them about their pianos. It also 
helps to have a strong background in sales, as I have.

Terry


>From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
>To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Subject: Fees
>Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 14:54:37 -0800
>
>I have gone around in circles about the best way to bill for my services 
>that is fair to the customer, adequately compensates me for my time, and 
>allows me to provide the best service possible.  Inequities stemming from 
>frequency of service, problem pianos, customer expectations, combined with 
>my desire to avoid having to explain every nickel and dime operation that I 
>see as necessary, have finally led me to structure my fee schedule as a 
>pure function of time.
>
>My basic fee is now based on a 1.5 hour service call.  In that time, if the 
>piano is serviced regularly, I can usually complete a tuning in about an 
>hour.  That leaves me 30 minutes to do whatever else I see as most 
>pressing: lubricating, cleaning, voicing, etc..  If the piano requires a 
>pitch raise or lowering prior to fine tuning, I can usually accomplish both 
>comfortably in 1.5 hours, usually with a little time left over.  If the 
>amount of work required, or requested, exceeds 1.5 hours then I bill the 
>additional hourly.  If the piano is a Steinway F or some other such monster 
>I will usually require the entire 1.5 hours if the piano is at pitch to 
>begin with (not my problem, they bought the stinkin' thing without asking 
>me).  But generally, I can then leave the piano having taken care of 
>something other than tuning.  The customer will be more satisfied with the 
>instrument and the instrument will better represent my abilities.
>
>In the past, when I have suggested that a piano needs something to a 
>customer, they have often replied, "Gee, why didn't the last technician 
>tell me that."  The truth is that we get into such a mindset that customers 
>are unwilling to entertain the idea of doing something that entails an 
>additional cost, that we often neglect to do things that really should be 
>done routinely.  Using this method I can, over time, address most of the 
>needs of a piano if the customer is servicing the piano on a regular basis.
>
>Going to this method required a slight increase in my fee and I was a bit 
>concerned about this at first.  But I am finding little or no resistance 
>when I explain that the fee buys a block of time.  Overall, it has allowed 
>me to reduce my appointment load on any given day to a maximum of 4 (before 
>it was 5).  There is less driving and less stress involved in making it to 
>the next appointment on time when I run into something unexpected.  I can 
>deliver better service and feel more satisfied with my work.  Customers are 
>ultimately more pleased with the instruments (even if they don't know 
>exactly why) which is good for referral business.  I suggest you all 
>consider it.
>
>David Love


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