customer education

[Dave Nereson]

    I don't know how many times I've told customers, even those who should
be more knowledgeable, such as piano teachers, that it's changes in humidity
that make the piano go out of tune, but it just does not register with them!
    It goes in one ear and out the other, or they just don't believe it, or
they don't believe the soundboard can swell up or contract, or they're
convinced it's because:

    they didn't play it enough,
or because the toddler banged on the keys with a toy,
or because they had the carpet shampooed and the steam must've thrown it out
of tune,
or the dust from the remodeling,
or 'cause they moved it across the room,
or there was a gas leak so they had to shut off the heat for a few days,
or maybe it's not a good piano after all,
or because we had a real cold winter or a hot summer (was the piano
outside?)
or because I didn't do a good enough job last time (3 to 10 years ago).

    It's amazing how large a percentage of piano owners think that playing
it helps keep it in tune.
    No matter how much you tell them it's changes in humidity more than
anything else, they still think it's temperature or moving or any number of
other causes.  Sure, these things can throw it out a little, but not the 20
cents that several weeks of rain can do, or 5 years without tuning!
    Another thing they just will not believe no matter how often you tell
them or how you phrase it is that new pianos go out of tune faster than any
others and need tuning at least 3 times the first year, 2 or 3 times the
second,  and twice a year for the next few years after that.  They just
refuse to accept that.  Then they're all up in arms two years down the road
when you have to charge them extra for a huge pitch raise.
   The pianos need some kind of pop-up reminder display every six months or
year  (3 or 4 months for new pianos).
    --David Nereson, RPT