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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Les,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I think Ken has the right idea here. This can
further be refined by realxing the exact concentricitiy to reflect actual
driving time and distance of major roads out and in. That having been
said due to the recent change in gas price volatility and my moving to the
more urban part of "my area" I have now gone to an "inside 20 miles flat
rate" and everything outside that I add $1.00 per mile (you have to get back
too). Bear in mind that I have a basically full book, am being very selective
about taking new clients, and am at the top of the food chain in my
area. Insurance co. stats say it actually costs (includes wear and
tear, gas, oil, occasaional car wash etc) about .50 per mile for me to
run my 2000 Toyota Sienna Van. When I have to travel a great distance where the
travel time will definitely affect my working time I will, at my discretion,
apply a fuel surcharge and/or travel time charge. Many other service and
delivery foks do this, and I tell anyone who asks and most don't, that
this is what you can expect when "oil men are in the White House." Without
getting into politcal harangue everyone so far has understood, and usually
laughed, although I'm not sure this is really funny. Before someone gets all
fired up reading this I am a registered Republican but also am a practicing
Amercian consumer. In other words I blame it on someone else, the cost of doing
business and Sears does it too. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In 33 years I have encountered very little price
consciousness on the part of my clients. I have avoided the yellow pages
like the plague and almost always refer a customer who asks "the
question" first to some more deserving young technician who needs the
work. There are too many starfish in the sea so we can get
alittle picky and not risk going out of business, I think it is only
important to have a price policy so that you don't have to fumble (flat
rates are best for this) around to answer the question "How much will it
cost?" The best customer profile for me is a well referred (word of mouth)
wealthy client with a large grand piano preferably Steinway, Yamaha,
Bosendorfer, Bechstein, Kawai, Bluthner,... you get the idea, who lives
close to my shop, trusts me implicitly, and wants the best for their piano. This
is no doubt more than you wanted or needed to hear but I just couldn't help
myself.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chris Solliday</FONT></DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ZahringerK@missouri.edu href="mailto:ZahringerK@missouri.edu">Ken
Zahringer</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, July 21, 2006 9:19 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [CAUT] mileage fees.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=Garamond><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">A long time
ago I decided that keeping track of mileage and adding it to the bill was a
pain. I sat down one night and drew concentric circles at 10-mile
intervals on my road map, centered on my neighborhood. Then I decided
how much more I would charge for each interval, and quoted everyone a flat fee
for tuning. You might use smaller intervals and a different amount of
increase in an urban area (my biggest circle was 70 miles out), but the idea
is the same. Keeps things simple.<BR><BR>Ken Z.<BR><BR>On 7/20/06 7:10
PM, "Leslie Bartlett" <l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><FONT face=Arial>I would like some
help with travel fees. The entire southern side of Houston is
virtually without tuners. I'm called somewhat regularly to go that
direction. I know some people charge mileage outside certain
boundaries. I'd like to know how folks have figured that and
managed to make it work.<BR></FONT><FONT face=Garamond><BR></FONT><FONT
face=Arial>Thanks</FONT><FONT face=Garamond> <BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>les
bartlett</FONT><FONT face=Garamond> <BR><BR></FONT></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><FONT face=Garamond>-- <BR>Ken Zahringer,
RPT<BR>University of Missouri<BR>School of
Music<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></SPAN></BODY></HTML>