Customer Complaint on Tuning

[piannaman at aol.com]

 Terry,

Just a couple of ideas...

I wouldn't return all of her money.? But in order to keep the peace, I'd consider a 1/2 refund.? I have no doubt the piano sounds as good or better than ever, but you'll never persuade her of that.

Or you could offer to go over and "retune" the piano the way it was, give her a -25c pitch adjustment and a refund....not the best choice, for sure.

Dave Stahl

 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 8:30 am
Subject: Re: Customer Complaint on Tuning
















Wow. This is a first for me. This lady is nuts. I checked 
the piano out this past Sunday. It had a few unisons singing a bit (IMHO, not 
uncommon a week after doing a 25-cent pitch raise), but otherwise sounded fine 
(well, as "fine" as most any 1970 Baldwin console sounds). And I told her so. I 
checked octaves, thirds, fourths, etc., etc. and it's all in the 
ballpark.


?


She plays a tune and stops and says "hear that? it's 
wrong"! Well, sure, anytime you play an E and an F# together it sounds pretty 
bad! But she'd play other things and stop and say "that's wrong". Sounded fine 
to me.?I didn't know what to say really. We did talk about the possibility 
that she had just gotten used to how it sounded when it was way out of tune. She 
agreed to play it a bit more and see.


?


So she calls me just now ranting and raving "it's all 
wrong, it's all wrong".? She says even her students are complaining. What 
the ........


?


She tells me that some times one song will sound fine, and 
then the next one sounds wrong.


?


Does the piano good. Of course not. It sounds like a 
crappy little Baldwin console that has sat too many years on the back porch 
(enclosed) of a home in Florida. But it sounds to be in as good a tune as any 
little piano like it.


?


So I guess the next step is to simply tell her that I 
don't seem to be able to satisfy her piano service needs and that she might be 
more satisfied with someone else's services. But that leaves one question 
remaining - in her view I have not tuned her piano - in my view I have. I don't 
think I should be returning her $95 (yeah, yeah, I didn't charge her for the 
pitch raise....). But then again, I'm sure she's on some sort of fixed income, 
and I've really never had an unhappy customer before......


?


I don't think there is any real good resolution to this 
situation. Any great ideas? Just tell her to find someone else and leave it at 
that? Seems like the only thing that makes any sense to me - but I kinda hate 
taking her money also.....


?


Terry Farrell


?



  
----- Original Message ----- 

  



  
The saga continues...... and builds. This one has the 
  potential to set the standard.

  
?

  
Just got a call from........ guess who?

  
?

  
Ms. X, I LIVE AT ...... YOU TUNED MY 
  PIANO. IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE. SOMETHING MUST HAVE HAPPENED.

  
?

  
Maybe I should have asked her, but I wonder if she 
  remembers that we talked yesterday. I told her I'd be stopping by tomorrow 
  early afternoon and she seemed okay with that. I hope she sleeps 
  tonight.

  
?

  
Either this lady is in the wrong "home", or the plate 
  split in two after I left from tuning it. Either one - I can't really figure 
  out anything else.....

  
?

  
Oh boy..... gulp.

  
?

  
Assuming I live through it, I'll file a report tomorrow 
  afternoon.

  
?

  
Terry Farrell

  

    
----- Original Message ----- 

    
?

    
Oh boy. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Should have 
    just erased the message and not called.....?

    
?

    
Lady leaves message on my answering machine: 
    I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET. MY PIANO NEEDS TUNING. I LIVE 
    AT 123 MY STREET.?IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE. I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET.?I 
    NEED IT TUNED TOMORROW. I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET. CALL 
    ME.

    
?

    
After my ears stopped ringing, I call her..... and 
    they started ringing again. Made appointment.?Pull up in her driveway 
    Wednesday - I could hear the TV LOUD in the driveway. 120 year old lady - 
    very sweet - she had the big eyes and high?cheekbones - could tell she 
    must have been a knockout 95 years ago. I asked how long it had been since 
    last tuning. She didn't answer so I asked: HOW LONG 
    SINCE LAST TUNING. She said many years. Anyway, 
    I did a 25 cent pitch raise and tuned the?so-so condition 1970-ish 
    Baldwin console.

    
?

    
FWIW, she is a "musicologist". What is that? She also 
    teaches piano.

    
?

    
She calls me yesterday and says that some notes still 
    don't sound right together. I didn't have the heart to ask which ones (like 
    maybe C and C#?). So I told her I would call her Sunday early afternoon and 
    stop by to check it out. (I have a morning appointment nearby that 
    day.)

    
?

    
I know what it will sound like - a crappy little old 
    Baldwin console that just had a pitch raise and a tuning. She's going to 
    plunk away at several keys, not hear a darn thing, and ask me: "see? hear 
    that?"

    
?

    
So what's the plan? Smile, wiggle a few tuning pins, 
    and say: "Oh, yeah, that should sound better now...?"

    
?

    
This is my second call-back on a tuning in 10 years. 
    The other one was a few years ago?from a 115 year old lady who couldn't 
    hear a fire engine honking it's horn if she was standing right next to 
    it.......

    
?

    
:-(

    
?

    
Terry Farrell
Farrell Piano

    
?

    
www.farrellpiano.com
terry at farrellpiano.com



 

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