[pianotech] i'll take a pass

[Amadeus Piano]

My business is still very new and I get a lot of these long un-serviced
pianos-they are my bread and butter at this point.  

 

My standard procedure for large pitch raises has been to pitch-raise and
tune as well as I can on the first visit and inform the customer that it
requires another fine-tuning in 2-4 weeks for stability.  I charge my
standard tuning fee for each visit.

 

But then, recently, I read here that many of you don't charge as much for a
pitch-raise, so I began to wonder if I was over-charging.  But I got over
that quickly-I have yet to have a customer complain or look at me sideways
when I inform them it will require two visits, each at my standard rate.

 

And I was worried that I'm not able to get most of these wildly off pitch
pianos stabilized in one visit until I read here that many of you do the
follow-up visit as par for course on very flat pianos.  But then I read
recently in Reblitz's book that I *should* be able to accomplish the pitch
raise and fine tune in one visit so I worried about my competency.

 

Because I get so many of these pianos, I've become adept at explaining to
the customer, on the first phone call, that if the piano has been sitting
idle for many years, it will likely require a pitch raise in addition to a
fine tuning.  Most, I find, understand completely why that might be the case
and I have yet to have any problems with it.

 

I love these long neglected pianos.  I love taking these discordant noise
machines that no one wants to play and turning them into wonderful sounding
instruments again.  It's a real sense of accomplishment.  When I'm done, I
always play arpeggios as prettily as I can, from bottom to top, changing
chords each time, and love filling the home with beautiful music-it also
serves to let the customer know I'm done and that they now have a wonderful
instrument to play.  It almost never fails that they come into the room with
big, goofy grins on their faces.  How could you not love this job?

 

And from a financial aspect, they are perfectly suited for my nascent
business, often a double-shot of income.  (And I feel confident that I am
earning every dime).

 

Gary

 


 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Terry Farrell
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 7:31 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] i'll take a pass

 

 Which is why I always explain to a caller that if the piano is up or near
standard pitch, my $95 tuning fee covers what I need to do regarding tuning.
But if the piano is significantly below standard pitch, then we will have to
do a separate proceedure called a pitch raise to get the piano up to
standard pitch before I can tune it. My fee for a pitch raise is $45 - but,
of course, only if your piano needs it. I approach this statement by asking
how long it has been since the last tuning...... (Yeah, yeah, I know - but
this is how I present my tuning fee structure to a caller.

 

That way, no surprises come appointment day.......

 

Terry Farrell

 

On Aug 21, 2009, at 6:08 PM, Britney Kirk wrote:





That's how I do it.  It gives bad vibes when you get to someone's house and
say, " By the way, it'll cost you even more than you originally thought!"

 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Noah Frere
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 3:58 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] i'll take a pass

 

So am I to understand you have one flat rate for every tuning, no matter how
long it takes?

On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 7:24 PM, Tom Sivak <tvaktvak at sbcglobal.net> wrote:


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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