[pianotech] Pitch Raise comments in PTJ

[David Love]

I was interested to read in the recent PTJ attitudes about when pitch
corrections prior to fine tuning are needed and when to charge for them.  I
was not just surprised at the number of people who felt that a pitch
correction was required for as little as a 2-3 cents but more surprised to
find that with that kind of criteria for pitch correction requirements that
a pitch raise was simply not built into the fee and that people would bother
to take the time to explain every at every appointment why an additional fee
was going to be required.  Even in Northern California where seasonal
humidity swings are marginal, it's more the exception that I find a piano
that doesn't require at least a 2-3 cent correction.  

I've long given up taking the time and energy to explain to every customer
the how's and why's of pitch correcting prior to fine tuning in order to
justify some small extra charge which they either will accept with some
reservation or find objectionable enough to feel that I've employed some
bait and switch tactic.  My basic fee covers a pitch correction (15 extra
minutes).  A tuning with pitch correction takes an hour.  I allow 1 hour and
15 minutes per appointment under my basic fee structure.  So only if the
piano is really gross such that it requires multiple passes to get the pitch
correction done do I add an additional fee.  I don't explain it in advance
except to say possibly that the piano is very badly out of tune and it may
take me a bit longer than usual.  The additional charge is implied.
Otherwise, my basic fee assumes some pitch correction will be required.  If
for some reason that portion of time allotted is not used for a pitch
correcting then there is additional time for other things that leave the
piano in better shape than when I found it outside of tuning.  

People who have not yet gone to full service type of appointments are making
life more difficult for themselves, IMO, as are those who find ways to take
30 - 40 minutes for a pitch correction when an ETD does the job in 15
minutes and with greater accuracy.  But, to each his own.  

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com