[Fwd: customer relations]

[Carl Teplitski]

Thanks for your input, Greg,and Ron.    My choise of words was from
frustration, not
because I think my work is substandard !!!!

Always thought my strong suit was P.R. Saying that maybe I wasn't a good
enough
tech. for him was a sarcastic thought. I will most likely tell him that
I wasn't
happy with the results of our last meeting, and I would rather not do
business
with him.Spent considerable amt. of time trying to educate him before he
decided what
to do and told me to go ahead. This kind of negotiating has been done
hundreds of times by me, and have had very few problems. Most people
have been referred to me, so they go with my assessment of the
situation.

I had invested a whole days work on this instrument, so I wasn't about
to eat
this job, just because of this fellows demands. If we let that happen,
where
would we be. Each time a customer wanted to get a free job , he would
just
complain till we gave up. There are techs. who beat customers , but
there are
customers who try to ripoff techs., by negotiating for free work.
I have a good friend in the instrument service business who says that he
has no
freebees. People are always calling, looking for free information so
they can
try to do their own repairs.

Take your car to an auto dealership and see where you get with that.

I had of course outlined what I would do for this fellow for the price
he was
willing to pay, but when it was finished , he found that he wanted more,
for the
same price.

It's like tuning a piano somewhere other than A440, because customer
isn't
willing to pay for pitch correction.  Although it would be OK to correct
pitch
if we didn't charge for same.
>From earlier postings, I've read that some techs. don't think you should tune
flat, for instance, but why would we do the extra work if the customer
probably
won't tune for another 5 years. Years ago I was present when Jim Coleman
expounded on this subject. His opinion was that this piano wasn't his
problem,
but the customers. ( Can't imagine "him" having this kind of customer.)
In hind site, I probably should have refused this work, because I had a
bad
feeling about this fellow, and mentioned it to my wife at the time. Hind
site of
course is 20/20.

Appreciate remarks by other techs. who may have had similar problems.

Carl/ Winnipeg/Canada.

Greg Newell wrote:

> Carl,
>
> Indeed I am interested in this and it is a topic worthy of discussion on
> Pianotech. While your post is obviously purposely vague regarding the word
> item I am concerned with your specific words that you will offer to him
> when he calls you back. Specifically you write "He will probably call
> again, but I will tell him that I can't work for him, because he needs a
> tech. who is much more qualified than I."  By saying this you are clearly,
> at least to me, admitting that your work is substandard and he did not get
> what he paid for. I don't think that this is probably the case and is
> rather just an unfortunate choice of words. If this is true, and I suspect
> that it is, please choose your words very carefully on that eventual day
> when you do talk to him. It could also be that he was just having a bad
> time in his life and it spilled over on to you. He could be pleased as
> punch next time you talk to him. People are funny that way. Hope this helps!
>
> Greg Newell
>
> At 05:55 AM 5/14/2002, you wrote:
>
> >I see no reason why this post wouldn't be of interest to others on
> >Pianotech.  To me, it underscores the need for contracts prior to
> >accepting such work.  I'm sure I have told you how a contract saved me
> >from such a situation last summer.  Customer had different expectations
> >but agreed that I had done exactly as the contract stipulated.
> >
> >Stan
> >
> >Carl Teplitski wrote:
> > >
> > > Had a customer today, ( not piano, but an accordion ) who was expecting
> > > it to be perfect when repaired, after of course negotiating best price.
> > > He decided not to do a couple of things, because he was trying to keep
> > > the price down, and didn't think those things would make any difference.
> > > A 50 year old instrunent with questionable quality was what it was. He
> > > checked this thing out with a magnifying glass type attitude. There was
> > > one item which wasn't as good as possible, and I offered to rework.
> > > After the second go around, he still wasn't satisfied. At this time I've
> > > given him about 25 % more work than agreed to, just to try and satisfy
> > > him. At no time did he comment on other parts of the job which were
> > > excellent, but kept coming back to a very negligible item, because he
> > > thought that this was what was keeping this instrument from reaching his
> > > expectations . He really wanted a much better instrument than it was
> > > when new. When reworked, the item he complained about was 99%. or
> > > better. I don't think it was possible to improve this particular item.(
> > > getting tired of using that word; item ).. well he finally agreed that
> > > maybe it was as good as it could get, paid me and left.
> > > He will probably call again, but I will tell him that I can't work for
> > > him, because he needs a tech. who is much more qualified than I. I'm the
> > > only one in this area who is doing any work of this nature. I've done
> > > work for many highly skilled professionals, with very satisfactory
> > > results,
> > > and I've been doing it for about 40 years. Had one other fellow with
> > > similar characteristics,
> > > who went to another tech. for service. Shortly after, I heard from this
> > > tech. that he threatened to throw him out of his shop. Couldn't be
> > > satisfied.
> > >
> > > I'm sure other tech.s have run into this kind of  person, and wonder how
> > > they handled it.
> > >
> > > Carl
> > >
> > > Stan, I'm wondering if this is an appropriate posting for piano list.
> > > Will abide by your opinion.
>
> Greg Newell
> mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net