ethics question

[Conrad Hoffsommer]

At 10:05 10/5/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
>  Barbara, Richard
>    I decided to raise my price after the septic tank guy charge me $70 
> bucks an hour to dig for the cover for my tank. Question really is ,How 
> long does it take to schedule,prep tools & car,drive ,kibitz with client, 
> pet the dog, remember there kids names & tune the average piano?
>  I figure 2 hours. My shop time is $60 per hour. that's $120 
> tuning/service bill. Find another house call type service working as 
> cheap as most of us do.
>    Food for thought
>    Dale Erwin


Season that food for thought with this, however.

Piano maintenance is 99 44/100% discretionary spending.

Compare:
That septic tank NEEDS to be pumped.
That piano NEEDS to be tuned.

Q: Which need is more likely to be postponed/ignored if the service rate 
goes up?
A: Probably the same one for which there was a price check BEFORE the work 
was done.

I don't like it either, but that's the way things are.

What we as technicians have to do is help our customers keep piano 
maintenance as a high priority.

D.L. Bullock's post shows some ways which will NOT help in this process.




Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT, MPT, CCT, PFP, ACS, CRS.
Decorah, IA

- Certified Calibration Technician for Bio-powered Digitally Activated 
Lever Action Tone Generation Systems.
- Pianotech Flamesuit Purveyor
- American Curmudgeon Society - Apprentice Member and Founder