[pianotech] Satisfied but persistent customer question

[Keith McGavern]

David,

I am a little confused by this part of your post. Surely you are not  
attempting to convey what I should do? If so, I don't have a problem  
with the manner in which I am handling this particular account. This  
church and I have a terrific relationship. And gee, David, any problem  
this church has is ultimately my responsibility, unless you intend to  
come to my neck of the woods and explain to these folks they need the  
services of which you speak, that I have set a poor precedent and that  
from now on you will be their technician.

Slightly amused as I am certain you meant well, it just appeared kind  
of odd to me since I didn't ask for any help or opinions in the first  
place. My comments were solely addressed to Geoff as a possible route  
other than the one he indicated he was experiencing.

Sincerely,

Keith

On Dec 27, 2008, at 11:15 PM, David Love wrote:

> First order of business would be to make sure that the piano doesn’t  
> move off pitch very far between tunings.  Stability on pianos that  
> have rendering problems and extreme bearing angles or string to felt  
> friction issues (like the Kawai) requires that the piano stays as  
> close to pitch as possible.  Churches are notorious for poor control  
> of conditions that contribute to instability.  A full DC system with  
> bottom cover and upper string cover is called for and if that’s not  
> the issue then you need to address the problems that are creating  
> poor rendering (at their expense) such as restringing, dressing capo  
> bars, changing agraffes, modifiying counterbearing angles or areas  
> if necessary.  If every tuning requires you to make two trips at the  
> price of one then I wonder how much value this customer really has  
> under the present arrangement.  If the problem isn’t the quality and  
> stability of your tuning (and I’m assuming it’s not), don’t make  
> their problem yours.  Help them solve their problem with some well  
> thought out analysis and proposals and don’t apologize that they  
> will have to pay for it—of course, it may be a bit late for that as  
> you’ve set a poor precedent.  ...
>
> David Love
> www.davidlovepianos.com
>
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]  
> On Behalf Of Keith McGavern
> Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:10 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Satisfied but persistent customer question
>
> Geoff,
>
> I have a situation that might be somewhat similar to yours.
>
> I have a sister pair of M&H BBs in a church. These pianos absolutely  
> defy rendering with certainty.
>
> Once I accepted this reality, I initiated making two courtesy  
> visits: The first, one week after the tuning, the second two weeks  
> after the tuning. The first courtesy visit I invariably find  
> numerous unions significantly out and make the necessary  
> corrections. The second week I find fewer unisons out and correct  
> those. This is the only way I am able to be satisfied that the  
> customer has a piano that is actually in tune. Fortunately for me  
> though, the client is close enough that these courtesy visits far  
> outweigh having to be concerned with charging additional fees.
>
> However, I see no reason on this particular piano you mention that  
> you couldn't incorporate an additional charge for that type of  
> service. This would eliminate call backs per se, and you would be  
> professionally accepting this as one beast that can't be dealt with  
> in one visit.  If the customer is not amenable to some additional  
> charges for what appears to be a very justifiable circumstance, then  
> you will have to decide if you want to remain uncomfortable for the  
> rest of your service days with this customer and this piano.
>
> It seems an easy call to me. Some things in life require greater  
> effort and cost to arrive at desired results.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Keith
>
> On Dec 27, 2008, at 8:48 PM, Geoff Sykes wrote:
>
>
>  I have a customer with a 1982 Kawai KG-C6 grand. She's a musician.  
> She has ears. This piano is a nightmare to tune. Getting the strings  
> to render through the bearing points so that it is stable enough  
> that I even feel comfortable leaving requires far more pounding than  
> I think any piano should endure. -- Geoff
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081228/5413f8d8/attachment.html>