[pianotech] Door open, but customer not home - what would you do?

[John Ross]

I usually do not go in, if it is my first time with that customer.
One thought comes to mind, you might have the wrong address. I walked into a house once and it was the wrong one, the woman was still in bed. 
It was quite embarrassing.
If it is a repeat customer, I will usually go in. 
One thing I do, is phone with my cell, to see if they might not have heard the door bell. The sound of the phone ringing, would mean you had the correct house.
Another thought is, the area you are in. 
There would not normally be a gun toting home owner here, but with home invasions as they are. It might not be safe in other areas.
Hard call.
John Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joseph Rosenberg 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 1:27 PM
  Subject: [pianotech] Door open, but customer not home - what would you do?


  I made an appointment with a customer that was 90 miles / 2 hr. drive (one way) from me.


  I called before I left to confirm that someone would be there, and they said they would be there.


  When I got there, the gate opened up to let me in. There were two cars out front. The front door was open, the screen door was ajar, and there was a TV set on very loudly. A dog barked for a few minutes, and then was quiet.


  I rang the bell a number of times, knocked on the door, yelled inside, walked around the house to see if they were outside, called their phone but got a voice mail.


  After about 15 minutes, I walked around to a side door that was open. The piano was right there. I went in, kept yelling "Hello", and proceeded to tune the piano.


  As I was finishing the tuning, the customers came home. They didn't say anything about me being in the house alone, or who let me in.


  I'd like to know what other tuners would do in this situation.


  Thanks.


  Joe Rosenberg



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