No shows: Was Convincing the Client

[Terry Neely]

Ron, What is your service bond?

Ron Nossaman wrote:

> >Sometimes it amazes me how thoughtless some people can be, not to say that
> >I'm never
> >unwittingly just as unthoughtful, but we should at least do what we can to be
> >considerate of others.
>
> A lot of folks who aren't self employed, or employed at all, don't seem to
> make the connection that their appointment with you is your means of
> survival. There seems to be this vague notion that someone somewhere is
> paying you while you are out tuning pianos instead of hiding in the
> bathroom like everyone else at your real place of employment.
>
> I was stood up by my 1:00 the other day. I called her from the front porch
> and she answered from the checkout line in Target. Profuse apologies, and
> asked to reschedule. I said we could do it some time next week, but I'd
> have to hit her with a trip charge for today. OK - fine. So there I am with
> a hole in my day and two hours before my next scheduled appointment. I got
> lucky. Since my 3:00 was only a couple of miles away (about 15 minutes in
> town), I drove over and asked if she would like to get the piano done a
> little early. She was home (unlikely, but it sometimes happens), and had no
> problem with it. Pitch raise, service bond and tuning later, I went back to
> my 1:00 no-show, and pulled into the driveway just seconds behind her. Must
> have been a heck of a line at Target! I told her I was running a no fault
> absolution program this afternoon, and could still do that tuning today if
> she liked and save her the trip charge for the no-show. Did it. Repairs,
> pitch raise, tune, and off to pick up that Young Chang action with the
> growing action brackets about 20 miles north and a mere 45 minutes late. At
> least I didn't have to waste two hours of the early afternoon.
>
> It's nice when things work out this way and the screw-ups can be absorbed
> with no major penalty. It just doesn't happen often enough.
>
> Ron N