estimate check list

[Dave Nereson]

    I've tried making estimate check lists in the past, and have never found
a happy medium between simple and exhaustive.  If one lists only major areas
of service, such as "Case & finish", "Soundboard & bridges", "Keys &
action", "Tuning, voicing", then details are liable to get left out when
looking over the piano to do an estimate.  And some details can turn out to
be costly, time-consuming cans of worms.
    Yet to cover any eventuality, all possible repairs, any likely or
unlikely problems, you'd have to check every single part on the piano and
list every possible procedure; the estimate sheet would be pages long.
    I had a two-page one I used for a while that I thought was fairly
complete, but would still run into things I didn't see in the home.
(classic example:  after the action's already in the shop, you find out the
regulating screws are all "frozen" in the rail and the eyelets break off
when you try to turn them)  So you either call the customer and tell them
it's going to be more ("Let-off?  What's that?  Regulating screws?  How much
more will it be?  You didn't say anything about that when you looked at the
piano.") or you end up "eating" the extra time spent fixing the problem.
    Sometimes I put an "allowance for unforseen problems" at the end of the
estimate, like for strings that break during a pitch raise.  But then, the
bridge could roll, the soundboard could crack, the plate could crack, the
pinblock could separate, the tone might be totally different after you've
filed hammers or voiced, etc.  Then you need these professional contracts
with disclaimers and waivers in legalese with signatures and dates and ....
oh jeez, I'm not doing open heart surgery here -- it's just a piano, and an
old upright at that.
    I've managed up to now but still don't have the ideal estimate form /
check list.   --David Nereson, RPT, Denver