[pianotech] in-home-service

[tnrwim at aol.com]

Les
 
If you feel comfortable working in a customer's home for long periods of time, more power to you. Personally, it's not that I don't mind if they watch me work, or even ask questions, but if I have to be in a customer's home for more than a couple of hours I feel like I'm intruding on their space and time. Not only that, but I want to take a break every hour or two, to go to the bathroom, get a drink or get something to eat, check my e-mail, talk to my wife, etc. I can't do that if I'm working in a customer's home. Not only that, but when I take a project home. I'm assured to have good lighting, all my tools, supplies, parts, etc. handy, and if I make a mistake, the customer won't hear me swear. I can't imagine not having a shop to work in, even if it's a kitchen table, or a bench or table in the garage or car port. 

Just my take on it.

Wim

 
 
From: Leslie Bartlett <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net>
To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Sat, Mar 10, 2012 2:08 pm
Subject: [pianotech] in-home-service




Meeting today, talking about agraffe repair and vertical damper regulation, in one’s shop, of course.  I don’t have a shop, and am known mostly for my tuning. But I have done some regulation, and all of it has been in home, more than once lasting several days.  I’d just blathering to recommend doing such work in-home has some advantages. I restrung a Steinway M. years ago for a retired shop teacher, who I charged about 1/3 what I should have. At that price he gagged.  When I got into the action, I found I couldn’t even regulate it, so told him I’d have to replace hammers-shanks-flanges, and again I charged him way too little.  He double gagged when I told him the price.  Long story made short.  About half way into the regulation work, he said to me, “I am going to hand you a blank check, and I want you to write in what this is worth.”   I have to do most everything I do in-home, but each time I have done something like this in-home people have expressed great appreciation for the intricacy involved, and the complexity of this thing called “piano”. They have always been really happy to pay what I asked, usually saying I under priced myself.  So, I don’t have any axe to grind, just a thought that perhaps time spent doing work in-home can pay unexpected results in a positive way.
Les Bartlett
Houston


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