Picking and choosing

[Clyde Hollinger]

Doug,

     I tune a number of "Grand"-brand pianos, and in general they give
me no problem in spite of their poor quality.
     I am one who says no to tuning player pianos.  Most of the ones I
met were old, and I feared a string or some other part would break when
I had neither the time nor the knowledge to remove the player action and
do the repair.  Since I knew of another technician who already knew all
about players, I decided to refer them to her, rather than gain knowlege
that for me would have limited usefulness.   
     Some pianos are in such poor condition I really don't want to
service them anymore.  If I am brave I tell the customer plainly; if I
am not feeling brave, I might just not call them when the next tuning is
due.
     I can recall only once when I dropped a client because he was
obnoxious.  He tore a couple strings in his spinet because he had a
tuning hammer and tried to do a little tuning himself.  Two weeks after
I tuned and repaired the piano he called and said a couple notes sounded
wrong.  I went back and asked politely if he had tried to touch up my
tuning.  He declared at first he didn't and challenged me about not
believing him, then later amended that to say he had turned "only one"
tuning pin.  Yeah, right!  I decided I would never again go back, and
fortunately he never called me.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT

Doug Hershberger wrote:
> 
>    There are just some instances in our work when we should probably just
> decline to work on certain instruments. I know it is hard because we all
> remember the lean times when just staring out when you wouldn't even
> consider turning down work. I for one have not been diligent enough on the
> phone as far as finding out about the piano in question, condition, age,
> etc.
> I know after reading this I will think twice about tuning anything with the
> brand name "grand".
>    I recently had an experience with a fine quality piano that someone had
> butchered with a pianodisc installation. This is a good contract in a
> restaraunt with monthly tuning but I dread going there because of that
> pianodisc installers crude techniques.
>    I have often thought that Piano Technicians are often quilty of kicking a
> dead horse by always trying to revive pianos that should have been junked or
> rebuilt 20 years ago. Personally, I like working on newer pianos.
>    I know of people who say no to tuning players because of the extra hassle
> or maybe they are afraid. Other people say no to tuning spinets. I am
> starting to think there is some wisdom in being selective if your business
> is at a comfortable level as far as making money. Of course it depends on
> the size of the place you live in. In rural areas I don't think you can
> afford to be as choosey. I would be interested to know if others on the list
> turn down certain types of pianos or certain types of customers for that
> matter.