[pianotech] "premium" vs. price

[David Ilvedson]

One way to get your $ up is to provide more service than the competition.   One phone state your service fee and explain that you don't just come in and tune the piano.   You clean their piano, give it a 2 pass tuning to stabilize at A440 (I think SIP is just confusing) The piano is designed to be at pitch and my policy is A440...always.   Pedals are adjusted, including cleaning that area.   Repairs are not included unless I have time left over in the service appointment.   I need 1.5 hours to do all that.   If you think of what travel time and auto expense costs, you have to factor it in somehow.   One thing I do before I leave is to brush the hammers lightly...in mellows the tone, temporarily, but there is a definite difference before and after the piano tuning.   

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Terry Farrell" <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Received: 3/11/2010 4:53:18 AM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] "premium" vs. price


>Whereas I think those that charge a certain fee for a block of time  
>that exceed a "normal" tuning - say two hours are really, really smart  
>and I also agree that is a great way to give a piano the minimum  
>service they all need, some of us, for whatever reason just aren't  
>willing to go there. I'm one of those. I think if I had a more music- 
>savvy class of customer I could do that. I may be doing myself a  
>disfavor by not going that route, but that's where I'm at.

>That being said if one is not scheduling longer blocks of time we have  
>the issue of whether the piano just needs "a tuning" and whether "it  
>also needs a pitch raise". I think terms like "basic", "fine",  
>"regular", "a long time" are too wishy-washy. I prefer to give it to  
>them straight - Piano Owner (PO): "How much do you charge to tune a  
>piano?" Me: "My tuning fee for tuning a piano that is at or very near  
>Standard International Pitch (SIP) is $X." Right there I have covered  
>all my bases - if it's been 35 years since the last tuning, it likely  
>won't be at SIP. If the guy who tuned it six months ago left it a half- 
>step flat it likely won't be at SIP. If they just moved the piano from  
>an outdoor patio in the Amazon rain forest to a dry Florida home, it  
>likely won't be at SIP. But then I immediately go on - Me: "Do you  
>have any idea how long it has been since the piano was last tuned?" If  
>they say that it was tuned within the past year and they have not  
>moved the piano, I will tell them "if it was tuned to SIP, it should  
>be close enough that my standard tuning fee will cover what I need to  
>do regarding tuning." If they say it's been more than a year I tell  
>them that "the strings on a piano are at very high tension and they  
>stretch over the years and all of them will slowly go down in pitch  
>(yes, yes, I know that's not why the pitch changes over time, but it  
>makes sense to them and is easy to say), and if the piano is  
>significantly below SIP, I need to do a separate procedure called a  
>pitch raise to get the piano up to SIP before I tune it and I charge  
>$X for a pitch raise. And to cover my basis, once in a while - maybe a  
>two or three times per year - I run into a piano that has gone several  
>decades without being tuned to SIP and that piano may even need  
>multiple pitch raises. But of course, regardless of how long it has  
>been, if your piano is at or very near SIP, then only my tuning fee  
>will apply."

>If they ask me what SIP is, I simply tell them that is the A in the  
>middle of the keyboard tuned to a frequency of 440 hertz - which of  
>course means nothing to most folks. Then I tell them that if you have  
>that A on a musical score and that A on your piano is tuned to SIP, it  
>will be a the same pitch as that A on the piano the local symphony  
>uses, the A on the organ and piano at church, and will sound at the  
>same pitch when Frank Sinatra or the choir sings that A. They usually  
>get that. If they still look confused, I start singing - that stops  
>any further questions!

>All that is a bit of a mouthful for sure, but IMHO, it is honest,  
>accurate, and CYA.

>99+% of the time when I do a pitch raise, I have a happy customer. If  
>I feel they are still a bit leery of the need for a pitch raise, I  
>will demonstrate on the piano the pitch where a string was at and the  
>pitch it needs to be at. I will also explain that you can only tune a  
>piano when you are making very small adjustments to each string  
>tension because every time you adjust one string it will affect nearly  
>strings - so large adjustments prohibit a good tuning. They eventually  
>get it - or at least accept it.

>Only one time did I ever have a hostile exchange with a customer over  
>a pitch raise - a man (duhhhhh) - and a piano teacher at that. The  
>piano was all over the place, he said it had been tuned within the  
>past year, but it was up to a quarter of a half step flat - no way can  
>you get a decent tuning when it is that flat - especially when the  
>pitch offset is inconsistent across the keyboard. So I told him I  
>would need to raise the pitch (I had the Pitch Raise conversation with  
>him over the phone when we made the appointment). When I was all done,  
>as he was playing the piano and saying how nice it sounded, I was  
>writing up his invoice - a tuning and a pitch raise. He looks at the  
>invoice as asks what is this pitch raise? I explain it. He shakes his  
>head and says he's never heard of such a thing - "all you need to do  
>is tune it". I explain it. He shakes his head....... bla, bla, bla. I  
>didn't feel like getting in a fight with him, nor taking him to court.  
>I accepted his check for the tuning fee and left. I think I may have  
>waved good-bye to him with a one-finger salute. What a jerk. Oh well.  
>I've really only run into two in more than ten years. Not bad.

>I hope this long-winded post helps.

>Terry Farrell

>On Mar 10, 2010, at 8:25 PM, paul bruesch wrote:

>> I've had a few calls recently similar to one yesterday... after  
>> explaining that "basic" tuning is x dollars and a pitch correction  
>> (a rough tuning to get it close to correct pitch) is y dollars  
>> extra, "The piano's only out of tune in the middle"  Mmm hmm, I see.
>>
>> What term do others use to distinguish a fine tuning from a pitch  
>> correction??  I always wonder if I'm getting my point across by  
>> saying "basic" or "fine" or "regular", then immediately continuing  
>> into the "if it's been a long time" spiel.
>>
>> Or maybe I just need to charge x+y dollars and do the full-service  
>> thing, and if it needs p/c then that's their fullness for that  
>> visit??  Especially since many many many of these are first-time  
>> visits for me.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Paul Bruesch
>> Stillwater, MN
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 2:53 PM, <wimblees at aol.com> wrote:
>> <snip>
>> But when a customers calls to ask what I charge for a "tuning", most  
>> of them don't understand...
>> </snip>