service call charges

[A440A at aol.com]

<<  I would like to know when you do and do not charge for service
calls.  Tunings?  Repairs?  Returning to pull a new string up to pitch?  I
know a tech who starts charging by the hour as soon as he gets in his car.
What works for you and your clients? >>

Greetings, 
   This pricing business depends on the individual's reputation more than 
anything else.  The longer a self-employed person is in business, the more they 
know, (or should).  Thus, their time is more valuable than the beginner.  The 
longer they have been doing quality work, the stronger their reputation, the 
more trusted they are, the more they are worth to discriminating customers.  
That being said, I submit we all owe it to ourselves to make our time as valuable 
as possible.  That is why we stand the expense of conventions, seminars, etc. 
 
    Even though my prices for private customers are high, I can easily 
justify a somewhat reduced rate at the University because I do so much work over 
there on my own schedule, and the credibility of being associated with the school 
makes it easy for me to have a continuing supply of customers elsewhere. I 
don't spend a penny on advertising and I have more work coming at me than I can 
do.   I also find myself retuning the same stage pianos several times a week 
and I charge a regular tuning fee every time I hit the stage, even though it is 
often that it takes far less time to leave the piano in tune on successive 
visits.  
  The recording studios are usually looking for "competitively" priced 
tuners, so I was glad to finally price myself out of that end of the business.  
   I charge from the time I leave my shop until the work is done. This 
effectively makes my travel time pay only half as much as time on site. If I replace 
a string in a piano, I charge a regular hourly rate, (which isn't much for a 
string, I admit), and usually will not charge to stop by and retune it when I 
am in the area, again.  It depends on how much of my time it takes to do this. 
 Sometimes, it is only a 5 minute chore and the customer relations end of the 
business is better served to have done it gratis.  
   
  Consider that auto mechanics can average $ 75-90 per hour, plumbers often 
charge $ 80 per hour, electricians that or more, and copier technicians average 
about $ 150 per hour.  How many copiers cost as much as a grand piano? 
     A tuning visit that takes 90 minutes and pays $135 means that after 
local taxes (10%) you have $ 122. Then overhead (that phone you use, the car and 
its expenses, cost of tools, etc), takes another 10% so you then have $ 110.  
Uncle Sam and FICA are going to take 30% of that, so you may end up with $ 75 
for that job.  Say you do four of these a day, five days a week, you are taking 
home $ 1500 per week.  That is a heavy tuning load and after a number of 
years, you will probably need medical expenses.   
   A good rule of thumb is that if you are booked months in advance, you are 
not charging enough, and if the phone is not ringing at all, you are charging 
too much for your reputation to support.  The fear of losing customers because 
you are charging too much will cost you far more in the long run than the 
actual loss of a few customers.  If nobody is complaining or questioning your 
price, you are not charging enough, because there are customers out there that 
will complain about any price!
 
Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html