Customer Complaint on Tuning

[Farrell]

Thanks for your comments Del. I am interested in how this thing shakes out. I'm not really as stressed over it as it may appear - at this point it is really more entertaining for me. I figure I'll give it my one return-call shot and see if I can put a smile on her face. If not, I'm pretty willing to call 'em as I see 'em (whether it be the piano or her) and not sweat over it too much. This happens to me so infrequently, that I don't mind giving a reasonable effort to try and please someone. I posted because I thought some might enjoy the comedy of it all....

Terry Farrell
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Delwin D Fandrich 
  To: 'Pianotech List' 
  Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 3:37 PM
  Subject: RE: Customer Complaint on Tuning


  At some point, Terry, you have to rely on your own judgment and be willing to override that of Ms. X. If the piano is well tuned then it is well tuned regardless of what Ms. X thinks. If the piano really does sound horrible for reasons other than tuning then Ms. X needs to be so informed. And, having lived through this experience more than once or twice, I'll also say that if Ms. X's piano sounds horrible because Ms. X's hearing is shot she also needs to be told about that. These are most often no-win situations. If you try to accept responsibility for Ms. X's hearing difficulties you will still lose. In all likelihood Ms. X already knows her hearing is shot but she may still be resisting acceptance. But that is not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to be sure the piano is well tuned (that is what she hired you to do) and to be sure she understands the condition and capability of her piano. At least to the extent that she is able and willing to understand such.

  Del



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    From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Farrell
    Sent: August 09, 2008 12:03 PM
    To: Pianotech List
    Subject: Re: Customer Complaint on Tuning


    The saga continues...... and builds. This one has the potential to set the standard.

    Just got a call from........ guess who?

    Ms. X, I LIVE AT ...... YOU TUNED MY PIANO. IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE. SOMETHING MUST HAVE HAPPENED.

    Maybe I should have asked her, but I wonder if she remembers that we talked yesterday. I told her I'd be stopping by tomorrow early afternoon and she seemed okay with that. I hope she sleeps tonight.

    Either this lady is in the wrong "home", or the plate split in two after I left from tuning it. Either one - I can't really figure out anything else.....

    Oh boy..... gulp.

    Assuming I live through it, I'll file a report tomorrow afternoon.

    Terry Farrell
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Farrell 
      To: pianotech at ptg.org 
      Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 2:24 PM
      Subject: Customer Complaint on Tuning


      Oh boy. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Should have just erased the message and not called..... 

      Lady leaves message on my answering machine: I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET. MY PIANO NEEDS TUNING. I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET. IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE. I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET. I NEED IT TUNED TOMORROW. I LIVE AT 123 MY STREET. CALL ME.

      After my ears stopped ringing, I call her..... and they started ringing again. Made appointment. Pull up in her driveway Wednesday - I could hear the TV LOUD in the driveway. 120 year old lady - very sweet - she had the big eyes and high cheekbones - could tell she must have been a knockout 95 years ago. I asked how long it had been since last tuning. She didn't answer so I asked: HOW LONG SINCE LAST TUNING. She said many years. Anyway, I did a 25 cent pitch raise and tuned the so-so condition 1970-ish Baldwin console.

      FWIW, she is a "musicologist". What is that? She also teaches piano.

      She calls me yesterday and says that some notes still don't sound right together. I didn't have the heart to ask which ones (like maybe C and C#?). So I told her I would call her Sunday early afternoon and stop by to check it out. (I have a morning appointment nearby that day.)

      I know what it will sound like - a crappy little old Baldwin console that just had a pitch raise and a tuning. She's going to plunk away at several keys, not hear a darn thing, and ask me: "see? hear that?"

      So what's the plan? Smile, wiggle a few tuning pins, and say: "Oh, yeah, that should sound better now...?"

      This is my second call-back on a tuning in 10 years. The other one was a few years ago from a 115 year old lady who couldn't hear a fire engine honking it's horn if she was standing right next to it.......

      :-(

      Terry Farrell
      Farrell Piano

      www.farrellpiano.com
      terry at farrellpiano.com
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