Pitch raise

[Robert Scott]

David Porritt asks:

>I've seen it said several times that for a tuning fee, there is an
>allocated time.  If tuning doesn't take up the whole time other
>things (voicing, tighten screws etc.) will be done for that same
>"tuning fee".  However, many say that if they do a pitch raise, still
>within that time frame, that they charge extra for it.
>
>Why is it that a pitch raise requires the extra charge when
>everything else done during the allocated time is included in the
>normal charge?

The customer's perception is that they have a contract with you to produce 
a specific result (a tuned piano) for a set fee.  There should also be an 
understanding between you and the customer that if certain conditions arise 
(such as a cracked block, or major pitch raise) that extra fees are 
involved.  Customers like the security of knowing what those extra fees are 
up front.  You give them that security by assuming some of the risk 
yourself.  For example, if a pin block is nominally OK, but gives you lots 
of frustration because of pins that are too tight or jumpy, you would 
normally not ask the customer for extra money to cover the extra time that 
it takes to tune such a pin block, because you can't point to something the 
customer will accept as a defect that is somehow "their fault".  So you 
usually eat the extra cost yourself, hoping to get a better pin block the 
next time.  That is fine.  It is part of assuming some risk in a job that 
is priced essential by the job, not by the hour.  Similarly, if you come to 
tune a piano that is nearly perfect, and is a dream to tune, you don't 
usually give the customer a discount because of the easier than normal job.

The tricky part here is deciding just how much risk you want to assume and 
making sure that your customer understands it too.  Judging by how people 
buy insurance, I would guess that most people would rather pay a higher 
fixed fee than take a chance on an open-ended hourly rate.  Even though 
pitch raises come in a continuum of difficulty, you give the customer a 
sense of security by deciding at the beginning if this particular pitch 
raise is bad enough to warrant a higher fee.  It may seem overly simplistic 
to divide all tunings into "normal" and "pitch raise".  But customers like 
simplicity, and will gladly pay you to give it to them.

Of course there is nothing wrong with deciding unilaterally to give your 
customer something extra (voicing, tighten screws etc.) if you think it 
will help your business.  And perhaps it might be appropriate to sometimes 
do a minor pitch raise for no additional fee, if it generates 
goodwill.  But if it is done in such a way that the customer comes to 
expect that it was his contractual right to have that extra service, you 
may want to re-think the policy.


-Robert Scott
  Ypsilanti, Michigan