The day's frustration

[Terry]

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Hello Ilex. No overly big deal. Feathers have settled down. I didn't =
realize you were a member of PTG - I didn't see your name in the 2004 =
directory. You'll find that just about anything that any larger =
organization puts on a web page is copyrighted - so be careful!

I'm not trying to be a PTG cop or anything, but that one was pretty =
obvious. So I thought it best to say something. Case closed!

Terry Farrell

  Terry -=20
  apologies for ruffling feathers. Actually, I am a member of the PTG, =
and also an artist who is very sensitive about copyright infringement. =
The part on the page to which I am referring that lead me to go ahead =
with this was " The preceding article is a reprint of Technical Bulletin =
#1 published by the Piano Technicians Guild, Inc. It is provided on the =
Internet as a service to piano owners. " Of course, since you've done a =
lot further picking and referring from their website, I now see that =
that was probably really wrong and stupid. Believe me, it is in my plans =
to purchase actual brochures. Even when I don't have a printout on my =
person, I still refer customers to the website.=20
  However, thank you for clarification, education, and encouragement on =
this matter. Once my wallet recovers from my dues I've already planned =
on investing in several things through the ptg, not the least of which =
is a set of brochures on pitch raising and regulation.=20
  SORRY!
  -ilex
    -----Original Message-----
    From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On =
Behalf Of Terry
    Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2005 5:57 AM
    To: Pianotech
    Subject: Re: The day's frustration


    What I find even more frustrating than Dave's day (as frustrating as =
it obviously was) is folks who would pilfer from the PTG rather than =
support an organization whose sole purpose is to foster the availability =
of state-of-the-art technical information on piano technology.

    "If I hand my customer a printout from the PTG website" ........... =
you will be guilty of copyright infringement. Don't do it. These =
materials are available for sale at  =
http://ptg.org/merchandise/PTGStore05.pdf .

    "If I hand my customer a printout from the PTG website, it not only =
credits the PTG for all of the information given, it also gives the url =
for the PTG's website..." It not only gives the URL, but also indicates =
that it is copyrighted - "=A9 1992 & 1994 The Piano Technicians Guild, =
Inc."  And if you look just a little further, on the home page you will =
see:=20

    "=A92000 This site is subject to copyrights owned by the Piano =
Technicians Guild. All materials posted to this site are subject to =
copyrights owned by the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) and other =
individuals or entities. Any reproduction, retransmission, or =
republication of all or part of any document found on this site is =
expressly prohibited, unless the PTG or the copyright owner of the =
material has expressly granted prior written consent to so reproduce, =
retransmit, or republish the material. All other rights reserved."

    You might want to consider joining the PTG and supporting the =
organization that makes available technical information that is =
"EXTREMELY useful in circumstances like these." "Printing off a copy of =
the PTG explanation of a Pitch Raise..." or anything else is illegal and =
IMHO, downright dishonest. Please consider supporting the PTG rather =
than pilfering from the PTG.

    Terry Farrell
      I have actually found the PTG's website to be EXTREMELY useful in =
circumstances like these. Printing off a copy of the PTG explanation of =
a Pitch Raise (along with the faq of "why does my piano go out of tune" =
yadda yadda), not only gives the customer concise information on piano =
care and behaviour, but also gives them a legitimate reference point =
outside of the word of one new tuner. They obviously don't know that =
your work and intentions are honest, so for all they know, you could =
just not be a very good tuner, and/or you could be trying to take them =
for a ride, billing them for a bunch of bogus work. To their credit, =
they're right to be skeptical - there ARE unfortunately a lot of tooners =
(and other service people) who make their livings off of dishonest =
upsales/scams. *WE* know you're not one of those, but your new and =
uneducated customer doesn't. Think about it - it's kind of like when you =
go in for a simple oil change and JoeBob at the quicklube tells you that =
you need about $200 worth of additional work done on your car (even if =
it's a tuneup, transmission flush, new air filter...). But last time, =
you had your oil changed by Tommy up the street, and he didn't mention =
any of that. Tommy's been changing your oil for years and has never had =
to do anything more to it - tuneup? What's that?=20
      If I hand my customer a printout from the PTG website, it not only =
credits the PTG for all of the information given, it also gives the url =
for the PTG's website - aha! Another valuable resource for piano owners =
who just don't know any better. It also earns me brownie points for =
going out of my way to show that *I* care about their piano, and that I =
want to bother explaining these things to them. Lastly, it leaves them =
with written information in a clear format (not handwritten. And do you =
really want to take the time to write the whole pitch raise and false =
beats shpiel out?) - 90 percent of what you verbally tell a customer =
goes in one ear, gets jumbled up and confused, and leaks out the other =
ear. Not because customers are stupid, but because most people simply =
don't have the time or attention span - they have kids, which means they =
have scouts, soccer practices, piano lessons, sunday school, pta =
meetings, karate, ballet, etc. That simple piece of paper is something =
they can refer to. Maybe they'll read it and respond positively, maybe =
not. But you're at least covering your butt, doing all you can do, and =
giving a chance for it. 
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