[CAUT] boston comments - guilt

[Jeff Tanner]

Jeannie,
I'm a dealer. Pianos come in in all sorts of degrees of readiness. I've had 
some come in needing only a good tuning and calming down the rep lever 
springs, and one which needed a complete restart on everything from keydip 
on up.  I NEVER will deliver a piano that soon out of the crate. I tweak 
EVERY grand action before I sell it. Had the dealer let you demonstrate the 
piano's needs at the store....  No... check that. If the dealer knew 
anything at all about pianos, he wouldn't argue with you.

I believe all dealers should be well trained techs. I believe all 
manufacturers should require it.
Tanner

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeannie Grassi" <jcgrassi at earthlink.net>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 1:55 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] boston comments - guilt


> David, and everyone else,
> I find this thread extremely timely since I just completed "full in-home
> concert prep to the customer's satisfaction" on a Boston 193. (The words 
> in
> quotes were what was written on the sales agreement.)  The piano had just
> been uncrated with only a quick pitch put on it the day it arrived in the
> store.  It was sent to the client within a couple of days after that. 
> This
> was a discerning musician with specific tastes and requests and to make 
> the
> sale, the dealer promised her the world.
>
> So I gave her all that she was promised, or at least what I understood she
> was promised. (Therein laid my mistake.) And my client was thrilled when I
> was done.  However, I found the action needed a great deal of work and 
> spent
> an easy 12 hours on it, pitch correction and fine tuning included.  It is 
> a
> nice piano, but not all of them come out of the box needing only a little
> tweaking.
>
> The unfortunate part is that the dealer only wants to pay me for 4 hours 
> of
> labor justifying it by saying "most technicians don't need to spend more
> than that."  Interestingly, David Kirkland told me, depending on the
> variables, one might expect to anywhere from 6 to 18 hours.  This is way
> more in keeping with my past experiences.
>
> So, while I also could have spent a minimum amount of time there is the
> occasion when more is just enough.
>
> Jeannie Grassi, RPT
> Bainbridge Island, WA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of 
> David
> Skolnik
> Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 10:30 AM
> To: Jeff Tanner; caut at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] boston comments - guilt
>
> Jeff
> Embrace the guilt.  Own the guilt.  Or work through the math to
> figure out the appropriate rate of each component of a tuning service
> call: overhead, scheduling, travel, personal interaction, labor
> (time).  If you could fit it in on your way to another appointment
> and you felt motivated to make such an adjustment, you could assuage
> your guilt without costing yourself.  Otherwise, you should feel
> guilty for pandering to your feelings of guilt.  Now you got a real 
> problem.
>
> David Skolnik
> Hastings on Hudson, NY
>
>
> At 01:06 PM 11/17/2009, you wrote:
>>  I did install a D/C dehumidifier system 3 years ago, but it didn't
>> move much before that either. I've always felt a little guilty
>> charging him full price for tuning his piano.
>>
>>Jeff
>
>