[pianotech] Dealing with customers

[Leslie Bartlett]

Tips?   I get something once or twice in a year, maybe, utterly surprised
every time...   

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of John Ross
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 9:35 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Dealing with customers

 

I never even think about tips.

Although the other day, I gave a bill of $241.50 and the guy gave me $275.
By the way it was more than a tuning.

But the last time I got a tip was probably a couple of years ago. I don't
mean someone just rounding it off to an even number.

I would say that our work is such that we shouldn't expect a tip, we are not
waiters, where that is a common practise.

John Ross

Windsor, Nova Scotia.

On 04-04-2012, at 10:11 PM, Joseph Rosenberg wrote:





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 :(

 

  _____  

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2409/4915 - Release Date: 04/04/12

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120404/37d8a38e/attachment.htm>