> Mr. Tinker: "What should we do?" > > You: "I'm calling in an air strike." > > Regards, > > Nick Gravagne, RPT Nonono, Nick! You spoil the surprise if you warn them. I've tried from day one in this business to frisk callers before I go out, as a sort of conceptual buffer against what I'll likely find. In practice, it works just about as well as bowling with a three hole brick because the owners know even less about pianos, mechanics, and the limitations of random adjustment than did the perpetrator. "Jumpy pads" may mean something to them, but, trust me, the mental images you form from their descriptions won't be within light years of what you'll find in the piano when you finally stand before it. I schedule these sorts of appointment at the beginning of what I hope to be a shop day. If it's a disaster, I have a service call fee, and the rest of the day in the shop to get well. If I need more than I have with me to affect repairs, I can reschedule and be back in the shop quickly. If it's actually resurrectable on site with what I have with me, I have whatever of the day I need to apply band-aids. The really ugly part is when the piano is some distance away and needs to be scheduled into a remote cluster of other tunings. Whatever you allow for in time will be wildly wrong. I think it's a rule. Ron N
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