[pianotech] Customer complaint

[Paul McCloud]

Hi, Richard:
Sounds like you did the right thing with this customer.  You charged her $40 for the string, and the tuning too?  I'll assume the $40 was for the string only.
  
If I suspect that strings may break, I'll explain what you said, that strings break and it's not the tuner's fault (unless I was careless or made a mistake).  Most often they understand.  If they insist that it's the tuner's fault, better to drop them as you have. 
 
I have a disclaimer which, in part, reads: "Please note that the tuning process involves risk of breakage of strings, especially if the piano has not been tuned regularly. By agreeing to schedule the tuning, you agree that replacement or repair of broken strings will incur extra charges".  They must agree to my "Terms and Conditions" before they can schedule a tuning or service appointment.

Paul McCloud
San Diego




----- Original Message -----
From: richarducci at comcast.net
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 4:31:29 AM
Subject: [pianotech] Customer complaint

List,
During the tuning of a yamaha c-1 last week , the bass string F below middle C broke.
Piano gets serviced once a yr. and has a DC system installed, pitch was about 10 cents or less flat.

The client took the position that "I" broke the string so"I" am responsible for replacing it at "MY" cost.

I explained to her that the string broke, I did not "break" the string.

I returned the next week and replaced the string with a Mapes duplicate and charged her $40 total.

She has made it a point in the past to tell me of other tuners that charge less, and I had made up my mind that this was going to be my last visit.

I wished her good luck with her piano in the future, and left.

Just received email from her saying that several other notes are not functioning well now and wants me to come back and address those issues.

I replied that the string was replaced correctly, and it has no bearing on other notes, and that she will need to contact another tech.

How would you guys handle this?
Thanks.


Rick Ucci
Uccipiano.com