"On a Wim"

[Ron Torrella]

On Wed, 13 Nov 1996 Wimblees@aol.com wrote:

> To charge a different rate for different jobs, in my honest opinion, is not
> ethical. If you don't want to do the work on a certain piano, just be honest
> with the customer and say so. But I don't think it is honest to charge them 3
> times as much, to pay for your "aggravation", of having to do the work,
> unless the customer is willing to pay the extra money, knowing ahead of time
> what your "normal" charge is.

And you're welcome to your opinions as long as they do not interfere with
my (or anyone's) ability to make an honest living.  If I want to charge 3
times as much to tune a vertical piano as I charge for a grand piano and
the customer will happily write the check, it ain't yours or anyone else's
business...it's mine and my customer's.  This amounts to a contract
between two people and that's that. (For the record, I have always made it
a point to charge the highest fee in town -- that I'm aware of --
specifically because I do *not* want to be competetive with the local
tuners.  I have *plenty* of work at the U of M to keep me busy and they
pay me fairly well.  But if someone wants to pay my fee -- and I tell them
what it is before I make the first appointment -- then I see nothing wrong
with charging whatever I believe my time is worth, even if it means my
prices fluctuate from one job to the next.)

Wimblees later said...
> This whole area of charging different rates for different work is scary.
> Where do you draw the line?

Really, what difference does it make to you?  If I were to move to St.
Louis, start up a business and lose customers along the way because they
didn't like the way I charged for my work, are you going to be annoyed
when they call you instead?  I think the line is drawn by the customer,
not by a competing technician.  Feel free to express your righteous
indignation while you present the customer with your lower-priced bill.
And be glad you don't have to contend with a government that tells you how
much you can charge per hour and/or for a given job!

Now, I really wish we'd get off of this topic here.  You were correct,
Wim;  this kind of thing belongs on the other list.

			     Ron Torrella, RPT
			Assistant Piano Technician
			  University of Michigan
			      School of Music