billing

[Les Smith]

On Fri, 15 Aug 1997, Vanderhoofven wrote:

> I know that a doctor would go ahead and charge, even if his patient didn't
> get any better, but I don't feel right in doing that.  My "patient" didn't
> get better, and I feel that the customer should pay for results.
> 
> Any suggestions?

Yeah. The doctor goes ahead and charges, even if the patient DIES! Give
the customer a break on what you charge for the pedal-work if you like--
like charge him for one hour, instead of two--but charge SOMETHING!. Don't
ever sell yourself short, or work for free. My feeling is that you gave it
your best shot and that that deserves compensation. Sometimes piano tech-
nicians have a tendency to forget that they are businessmen and women.
A customer smiling, slapping you on the back and saying "Gee, thanks for
the two hours of free work" won't pay your bills! 

In the future, if you come up against a problem like the upright sos-
tenuto mechanism which you're worried about you ability to handle, claim
time constraints, charge and get paid for the tuning and tell the customer
that you'll have to come back the next time you're in the area. That will
give you time to check with the list here, some other local techs, or
even a text or two that will tell you what you need to know to perform
the needed service. Then go back, do the work, AND GET PAID! :)

Les Smith