If the maids are there when I arrive I let them know right off that they will have to postpone vacuuming until I'm done. If people are talking next to me I don't hesitate to tell them that I will need quiet in order to insure that I can do my job well. If the piano is near the kitchen and they are doing the dishes (running water can be very noisy), I ask them to wait until I'm done. If someone is demolishing a room next to me with a sledge hammer, I leave and tell them that they will have to reschedule when it is quiet. Whether I charge them additionally will probably depend on my relationship with them. I find that the longer you wait to say something in a noisy situation, the more difficult it becomes. If you have concerns about their sensitivity to your needs, let them know right away that you need an environment that is conducive to tuning. I've often thought about printing something, maybe on a website, that I could refer customers to prior to our appointment about what you, the client, can do to facilitate the best performance from the piano technician. Along with quiet issues is the one about removing the 200 little knick-knacks that are carefully arranged on top of the piano. David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of J Patrick Draine Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 8:02 AM To: Pianotech Subject: "should I stay or should I go?" "Should I stay or should I go?" Yeah, that's the title of an old Clash tune (which still seems to be on continuous rotation on the local radio stations) -- have you ever asked yourself that when you're tuning a piano? Hey, if the lady of the house answers the door and says "omigod we've all got the flu could you please come back next week", no problem. Sometimes a similar scene plays out if the wall in the next room is being ripped out for remodeling, or the maids/cleaning service are running around the house vacuuming thoroughly and loudly. Too often I've "gone for it" and continued to work, foam ear plugs in and ETD assisting. It's nice to maintain one's schedule, but noise, fumes, plaster dust etc. make for extra stress. Yesterday the first appointment started out with the sunny dispositioned Yankee Brahmin/Master of the Universe type husband ushering me into his multimillion dollar home, eager to have me tune their U1 for the occasion of his son's piano recital. Oh yeah, the piano teacher had convinced him it would be a good idea if the students' recital was at Mr. Master of the Universe's home. So I get to work, and then his wife rambles in, howling at him as to why he had ever agreed to this recital thing, that he had no right to impose this on her and their son, and assorted other topics at high volume and hurricane force. They settled into a couple chairs a few feet away from the piano for ten minutes of high drama until she stalks off, seeming ready either to pack her bags or go get her gun, as he is calling out to her "Eunice! Come back! Don't walk away from me while we're discussing this!" (while he sits 4 feet away from the piano). By this point the middle section of the piano is roughed in to A440 while the rest of the piano is about 4 beats sharp. I was sorely tempted to announce that I thought it would be best if I came back some other time (like in 10 or so years from now) to finish the job, but I didn't. Eventually they moved their "discussion" to some far part of the estate, with occasional outbursts from the wife echoing my way. Well I tore through that one as quickly as possible (and I'm always otherwise obsessive about getting things dead on); husband and wife appeared to have "worked things out" at least long enough to put a smile on as I headed out the door. Yikes! Talk about stress! It certainly made me value my good natured spouse (and thankful for the sanity of most of my customers)! Patrick Draine _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC