Charging for Pitch Raises

[Clark A Sprague]

Terry, List,
        I did a Kimball upright last Saturday, on which I did 2 pitch
raises, and a third pass on the upper treble.  It was 103 cents flat in
the middle, and 200 in the high treble.  Everything was fine when I left,
although I recommended that she should follow up in about 2 weeks or 1
month with another tuning, and about 3 or so months after that, again,
after which the piano would then start to be stable.  This is my usual
procedure, which customers either follow, or they don't.  I know from
experience that this works for me.  I charge a flat service fee, which
covers whatever I can do in a 2 hour period, or less. My customers seem
to appreciate spending the extra time on their instruments.
        However, in the Kimball case,  the customer called back on
Monday, stating that there were 3 notes that were not playing, one of
which sounds like a snare drum.  Is it possible that such an extreme
pitch raise has broken the plate?  I told her that I would in no way
accept responsibility for broken strings or if the plate broke.  It was
playing when I left, and she knows it, as she played it too.  The
offending notes, as she told me, are located right across the bass,
treble break.
        Somewhere, in the past 20 years, I read, or was told by my
father, that pitch raising by 3 note increments, was the "proper way" to
distribute tension across the plate, with less chance of plate breakage.
IE: C, C#, D, up an octave, until all those notes were tuned, then next 3
notes, etc.  Any comments on procedure, responsibility, etc???  By the
way, no strings broken during the procedure, it you loosen them slightly
before pulling them up.  Could they break after the fact, as in during
the night when nobody was there?
Clark Sprague, RPT
PS:  Dave Foster,  glad to see your comment on the List!!