Pricing emergency services

[Kent Swafford]

On Saturday, November 9, 2002, at 10:43  AM, Clyde Hollinger wrote:

> I'd like to take this discussion in a slightly different direction.  
> Do any of
> you charge extra for last-minute orders or emergency service when all 
> your
> appointment slots are already filled?

My attitude about this comes from the fact that I do a lot of "special 
event" tunings; I do a lot of tunings where each must be done in a 
small window of time. As a result. tunings can get bunched up at 
random. Even if everyone does their planning and calls me well in 
advance, it could still mean that "everyone" needs a tuning Sat. 11-9. 
I do my best to accommodate. But no one gets charged a premium, for 
much the same reason that no one gets a discount. I either agree to do 
a given tuning or I don't. Professional musicians don't work consistent 
day in and day out banker's hours, and I sure don't see how techs can 
either. I want to solve problems when people call me, not make them, so 
last minute requests get treated just like advance requests; I do them 
if I can; and if I charged premiums people could mistake those premiums 
for my normal charges, regular customers would feel gouged or believe 
that my charges are inconsistent, and/or people might think I was 
difficult. Actually, I  _am_ difficult about some things, but I don't 
feel the need to be difficult about this particular thing.

Kent Swafford