no charge to good steady customers

[Clyde Hollinger]

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Phil and others,

This is a very interesting subject, and I'm fascinated by the number of
people who said they do the same thing you do.  I don't quite know what
to think, but I'd like to add my two cents.

I do question how you could conclude in five minutes that all the
unisons, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 8vas, etc. were spot on.  Are you sure?  If
so, what could cause the piano NOT to be spot on six months from now?
If pianos are tuned regularly enough, do some of them reach the point
where they are permanently in tune?

I sometimes equate piano tuning with other maintenance-type procedures.
I think that any time maintenance is recommended after a certain period
of time, or a certain amount of use, there is the question of whether
this is necessary, and maybe sometimes it isn't.  Has any one of you
ever requested normal maintenance and then the serviceperson said you
didn't need it?

"Good news for you, Mr. Smith.  The oil in your car still looks clean,
so you don't need to change it" or "your teeth look fine, no cleaning
this time, no charge," or "your furnace burners aren't dirty enough for
me to take the time to clean."  Would you trust someone who made a
recommendation that differs from the accepted norm?  Nearly all piano
manufacturers recommend tuning every six months, so I already feel I'm
stretching things a little when I suggest that annual tunings should be
fine for nearly everyone.

There have been a couple times when I suggested to the client, "The
piano has changed very little.  Do you want to try two-year tunings
instead of annual?"  As often as not, they look at me with questions in
their eyes, like, "Is he trying to get out of servicing my piano for
some reason?"

Just last week I told a piano teacher (owner of a Kawai grand with full
DC system), "I had to look hard to find anything that needed to be
changed."  She said, "Well, that's good, isn't it?"  It certainly is.  I
thought she might want to go to annual tunings, but she's very happy
with the six-month tunings, and since I sensed the issue was closed for
her, I said nothing more.

I use RCT, and I've long suspected that it is "pickier" than the human
ear is.  I've never done only an aural check on arriving and making a
decision at that point.  I want to *keep* the piano sounding good, not
wait until it starts to sound out of tune and then fix it.  I still
check every string, trying the unisons to see if I can get them any
cleaner (often I can't due to false beats), so even my short jobs take
about forty minutes.

More could be said, but I think I'll stop there.  Thanks for bringing up
this thread.  Since I hold myself to the highest ethical standards, I've
thought a lot about it.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT


Phil Bondi wrote:

>  Last Friday was a scheduled appt. with a very faithful every 6 months
> residential customer - Baldwin Acro(newer Console model) - DC
> installed.When I arrived, this client was as gracious as ever - said
> the piano really didn't sound bad at all to her...she wasn't kidding.I
> probably could have done more harm than good if I tuned the whole
> thing! - it was spot-on with the exception of a few top-end unisons..I
> touched them up for her, and told her 'no charge' today.She was more
> than willing to pay 'something' for my time, and I probably should..my
> gut feeling was not to charge her, so I didn't..I wasn't there more
> than 10 minutes, and 1/2 of that time was spent putting that darn lid
> back on(2 pins on the bass side as opposed to a 'piano' hinge in
> back..uugh).I'm not looking for a pat on the back here..just curious
> if this is common practice amungst my peers..or do you truly feel I am
> not being fair to the tech. community.curious this morning,

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