Greetings Mike and list For me the reality of having a client (home based) call for four tunings , or even two tunings a year is rare. For one thing I lived in a stable environment, (Bay Area) (OK OK, but I never saw a piano knocked out of tune by an earth quake). (I moved in 88 before the "big one") When I have seen pianos that were out of tune four times a year, they were unstable for structural or environmental reasons, or not quite so often the previous tuner. Also if a client asks, I recommend two tunings a year. If they ask for four or need for four, we consider the circumstances, and discuss rates. (If it really is used that much to merit four tunings, there will be a lot of maintance to consider.) Yes there are such things as discounts. For instance for the school that has three pianos tuned even once a year, I charge by time, or at least give 10%. If the music teacher lives three blocks away and has me come on the same day, they get a token discount. Of course there is the game of offering a dicount but charging $10 to adjust the pedals. Or charging full fee, but including 5 to ten minutes of normal adjustments and cleaning, (which makes a $20 dollar impression on the client) for pianos that held its tune and I got done early. For me flexibility gives the greater options. Yes I will tune 20 pianos in a school at a substantial "discount". No I will not tune twenty bird cages for an antiques dealer for three times the fee each. If the Musicians Union wants three pianos tuned twice a week, and the show is booked six months... and some of the cast wants to rent pianos from me...and a one night rental for their "sea cruise" cast party/jam session... OK I might not charge "stand by" for that one. Richart Moody South Central South Dakota ---------- > From: Mike Imbler <MIKE-IMBLER@worldnet.att.net> > To: pianotech@byu.edu > Subject: Re: discounts > Date: Saturday, March 29, 1997 10:13 PM > > At 11:22 PM 3/29/97 +0000, you wrote: > >I agree, > > We should not give discounts for what should be considered as normal > >maintenance. I would rather charge more for people who don't tune as often > >as they should. > > I am a customer, not a technician, but am curious about this thread. For > the customer that tunes 4 or more times a year; is it not a quicker and more > pleasant tuning for you? This may be a misconception on my part, but if it > is true it would seem to > indicate that some discount might be in order (also to account for the regular > income stream). Please don't flame, I'm just curious. > > Regards, Mike >
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