[pianotech] Dealing with customers

[Dean May]

I haven’t done work for a dealer in years, but would again if the
opportunity presented. I would consider it a cost of doing business. The
dealer wants his customer happy and taken care of. In return, you get a
nominal fee plus a new customer, and typically new piano customers are a
little better at rescheduling and regularly maintaining. 

 

Getting new customers is expensive. And you are getting a premium new
customer to boot that is more likely to schedule regular maintenance. So for
an extra ½ hour of your time, you get a premium new customer. This is a
great deal. 

 

Do you service the pianos on the floor or give them a good prep? Sounds like
some of these problems maybe should have been taken care of in store. 

 

Dean

Dean W May                        (812) 235-5272 voice and text

PianoRebuilders.com           (888) DEAN-MAY         

Terre Haute IN 47802           Give us a LIKE on Facebook! Go to
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  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Joseph Rosenberg
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 9:11 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Dealing with customers

 

Hi everyone:

 

How would you handle these 2 situations with dealer tunings that I had
today:

 

1. Customer 1 - lives in a $4 million house. I made the appt. for today @
10am. Got there 9:45am. Woman didn't show up until 10:30am, no apologies or
explanation. Very warm day, didn't offer anything to drink. Customer had
some stuck key issues, which I stayed extra 1/2 hour. Usually I call dealer
to get his okay so I can bill him, but couldn't reach him. Total time there
- 2 hours, including waiting for her to come home. I get paid for 1 hr.
only. No tip (only the poorer people tip when I do dealer tunings, NEVER the
people with money).

 

2. Customer 2 - Small house. Husband & Wife both out of work. Appt. was made
for 1pm. I rushed to get there on time after delay of first job. When I was
5 minutes away, she called and asked me to come at 2pm. When I explained
that I was almost there, she said she wasn't home and would be back at 2pm.
I had no choice but to wait. At least she offered me a drink. Again, there
were repairs that she hadn't told the dealer about, I couldn't reach him for
approval, and did them - Total time: 1.75 hours. I got paid for the 1 hr.
only. No tip.

 

While I think the dealer or the customers should pay me for the waiting
time, the reality is they won't.

 

If I didn't wait for them, I would have to go back again anyway, or would
lose this dealer's tunings.

 

The dealer gives me enough tunings that I want to keep working for him. He
basically pays me what he charges the customers, so it's not like he's being
unfair to me.

 

Is this just part of doing business, or do other tuners have ways of dealing
with these things?

 

Do other tuners who do dealer tunings generally get tips? Should I expect
them?

 

FYI, I am always professional and polite to the customers, even when they
keep me waiting. I always try to be very nice, but the customers don't care.

 

 

Frustrated Piano Tuner :(

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