Jeff: As a tuner-technician of many years experience, AND as an owner-operator of a very successful ful-line music store, I concur with your statements and the sentiments which prompted them. During 20 years or so of independent tech work I stayed far away from dealers, because they didn't pay doodley. Fellow RTT's had long and, apparently, happy relations with dealers. (Autre stokes for autre folks.) Then I started doing some trouble shooting for the local outlet of a multi-store dealer (said to be #2 in the U.S ?). I really took pride in this work. When I took the Queen's shilling, buddy, I gave my loyalty to the Queen. That is to say, I never commented adversely to the customer on the piano, any thoughts I had about the two or three store techs who preceded me without 'curing' the problem were kept strictly to myself, and I took great pains to insure that the customer felt better about the dealer when I left than he/she did when I arrived. On more than one occasion the customer was so steamed he/she wanted the piano returned to the dealer. In every case I left them smiling. In every case I became the tuner of record for that customer. Any impartial observer would applaud my loyalty to the dealer. Then, during this period of time, on rare occasions, I would have a chance to sell a piano from my living room to a customer. Eventually one such occasion reached the furry ears of the ass who considered himself soooooper salesman in the dealership. (This happened about the time the dealership sponsored me to atend a 2 weeks work/learning session at S&S factory.) When I returned it slowly dawned upon me that I wasn't getting any more referrals or trouble calls from this great dealership. Upon inquiry I was told that I was blacklisted because I was selling pianos on my own. Sooo, I opened my own dealership and every time I make a sale I think of how I should treat my fellow tuners. Sometimes I wonder just how much that stupid blackballing has cost that great and mighty dealership. I also wonder how many other tuners are "increasing the negatives" of this great and mighty store. I hear they are starting to advertise for tuners. Hmmm!
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