Tuning Gone Bad

[Susan Kline]

Two things --

First, call-backs happen. I wouldn't charge them unless I found something 
which obviously is their fault. Then, I would show it to them, and explain.

Second, especially for a spinet, check carefully to be sure that all four 
casters are on the ground, each holding up their share of the piano. If one 
of the front legs is hanging in air, it will throw the whole tenor off by 
several beats. Find out if they've moved the piano. They might have found a 
patch of floor where one leg is in air (easy to spot) or they might have 
moved it from a place where one leg was in air, and now it's not. (harder 
to spot, unless you get in the habit of checking for it before you tune.) 
If this is their problem, they need to know about it, so they can "heal" 
the tuning themselves if it happens again.

Susan

At 07:26 AM 5/24/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>I received a call from a church where I have tuned their 1960s K&C spinet 
>three times since 1999. I just
>tuned it three weeks ago on May 2 (most of it was up to pitch, the treble 
>got a second pass). The pastor called me the other day and asked if I 
>could stop by and touch up the tuning because the pianist said the center 
>of the piano went out of tune.
>
>I'm going to go out there Saturday. It is a 40 minute drive from my place. 
>I suspect, unless I see evidence that someone was trying to tune it 
>themselves, that the thing to do is touch it up, smile, and go on my way.
>
>This is the first time I have ever had a call like this. I'm sure others 
>have. What is your normal course of action/policy. Do you tell the 
>customer while on the phone that you will be charging them for the trip, 
>etc.? Thanks.
>
>Terry Farrell