[CAUT] boston comments - guilt

[Allan Gilreath, RPT]

Good points Jeff,

As a dealer here as well, it's interesting to see that most commonly 
successful business model in the piano retail industry seems to be the 
technician-owned dealerships.

In some other countries, it's the norm.

Allan
Allan Gilreath, RPT
Registered Piano Technician
Berry College - Rome, GA

Jeff Tanner wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>
>