It might prove instructive to consider that for most of us, tuning a square grand would be considered outside the scope of "routine," perhaps "specialized.". Those other tasks would likely be considered typical work. William R. Monroe On Jul 1, 2010, at 2:02 PM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote: > > I do charge more per hour for squares. It doesn't hurt my back at > all. I just hate "tuning" the untunable. Most tech simply refuse to > work on them. There is a reason for that. I need to have a smile on > my face while working. Charging more per hour while working on a > square puts that smile on my face. > > If you choose to not charge a different hourly rate for distasteful > work, then by all means do so. :-) > > Terry Farrell > Terry > > I see your point. But why stop at squares? Why not charge exra for > regulating grand dampers, putting clip on bridle straps on an old > upright, or tuning a cheap spinet? Maybe you do. :) > > Wim > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> > To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> > Sent: Thu, Jul 1, 2010 11:16 am > Subject: Re: [pianotech] business > > I do charge more per hour for squares. It doesn't hurt my back at > all. I just hate "tuning" the untunable. Most tech simply refuse to > work on them. There is a reason for that. I need to have a smile on > my face while working. Charging more per hour while working on a > square puts that smile on my face. > > If you choose to not charge a different hourly rate for distasteful > work, then by all means do so. :-) > > Terry Farrell > > On Jul 1, 2010, at 11:56 AM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote: > >> >> I'm with you William. I up my hourly rate for squares, players, and >> cleaning piano interiors. I have a flat fee for tuning most pianos, >> but I charge by the hour for squares and players. >> >> Terry Farrell >> If it take you longer to tune a square, then by all means, charge >> extra. But don't charge extra just because it's a square, or >> because it hurts your back. >> >> WIm >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> >> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> >> Sent: Wed, Jun 30, 2010 2:46 pm >> Subject: Re: [pianotech] business >> >> I'm with you William. I up my hourly rate for squares, players, and >> cleaning piano interiors. I have a flat fee for tuning most pianos, >> but I charge by the hour for squares and players. >> >> Terry Farrell >> >> On Jun 30, 2010, at 4:36 PM, William R. Monroe wrote: >> >>> My take, >>> >>> If you feel a job causes you more work (physical, mental or >>> otherwise) and you feel inclined to charge more, do so. No one >>> forces clients to use any one of us and if we have a distaste for >>> a particular job, we are free to decide whether to take it or not >>> or, whether to charge more or not. In a case like that, I would >>> offer to my client that they may be able to find someone to do it >>> for less, but that is my fee. Charging more, purposefully, does >>> not equate to gouging. Charging more arbitrarily does. >>> >>> Wim, getting sore playing racqutball is totally unrelated to >>> work. There are those that suggest that tuning a square actually is. >>> >>> William R Monroe >>> >>> >>> William R. Monroe, RPT >>> A440-William R Monroe Piano Services, Inc. >>> 314 E. Church St. >>> Belleville, WI 53508 >>> 608-215-3250 >>> www.a440piano.net >>> >>> On Jun 30, 2010, at 9:40 AM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> YES! Even squares, for a nominal extra fee to pay for my aching >>>> back after ward! >>>> I'm sorry, Mike, but this, in my opinion, is not ethical. It's >>>> not your customer's fault that you have a bad back. That's your >>>> problem. Either put up with it, or don't accept the work. >>>> >>>> On occasion, after playing a hard couple of rounds of racquet >>>> ball, my shoulder aches so much I can hardly lift my arm above my >>>> shoulder. But I don't charge my customer extra because of that. >>>> >>>> You can charge your customer extra because it takes longer to >>>> tune the piano because the pins are in the back and all the other >>>> unusual techniques you have to use to tune the thing. But you >>>> should not charge extra because it hurts your back. >>>> >>>> Just my 2 cents worth. >>>> >>>> Wim >>>> >>> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100701/f6a228a7/attachment.htm>
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