referral? back

[pianoman]

Hello Elian,
Good advice.  I try to always follow that.  When someone else wants to give
you something, beware.  I too have lost money trying to be a 'good guy". 
The most expensive piano is the one that is free.  The cheapest piano is
the one that cost the most.  Think about it.
James Grebe
R.P.T. of the P.T.G.
 Since 1962 in St. Louis, MO.
  Caster Cup Center of the Universe
Home of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups
pianoman@inlink.com        

----------
> From: Elian Degen <degen@telcel.net.ve>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: RE:  referral?
> Date: Thursday, August 27, 1998 10:49 PM
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> James, stay as far as you can from that type of people, I met several of
> them during my 20 plus years of work, maybe down here it is easier to
find.
> Here there is an economical slow down and they hide under the pretext
that
> his customer loves pianos, hasn´t got the money etc. etc. but they are
just
> pretexts.
> 
> After meeting several of them, I arrived to the conclusion, (at least the
> ones I knew ) That their main problem is lack of selfesteem, and a not
very
> healthy guilt complex, which makes him try to win the sympathy of his
> customers pretending that they are overprotecting his customers
interests.
> 
> I hope I am wrong, but from my own experience, once when I was convinced
to
> help one of this "coleagues" I learned, that afterwards, what ever you
did,
> and probably lost financially, was not enough.
> 
> My advise, when you get a call for someone like this, stay away.
> 
> 
> Elian Degen
> 
> 
> 
> >Hello All,
> > Yesterday I had a fellow PTGer call me with a referral to replace a set
of
> >jack springs on a Cable spinet.  This fellow, somewhat younger than I is
> >still living with his parents.  He has always seemed to me to be an
> >underachiever.  So he tells me the story and I asked him why he didn't
want
> >to do the job.  He didn't want to get involved with it after he just
tuned
> >it for the first time in about 20 years.  I asked him if he checked for
> >sluggish centers in the jacks and insisted that it wasn't that.  I told
him
> >that I would be glad to take the job and told him that I charge by the
time
> >it takes to do the job times my hourly fee ($70 per hour) + the service
> >calls to pick up and re-install the action.  Then he tells me that he
had
> >also talked to another PTGer and that he quoted him a price of around
$350.
> > I said so why didn't he do the job.  He comes back with,"I think that
> >price is too much.  I figured that my total price would be close to that
by
> >the time I was through.  So here is a guy that doesn't want to do the
job
> >himself and yet is dictating the price for someone who will do it.  The
> >idea is to work to make a profit  to eat.  I called the people up and
told
> >them my pricing policy and they said they would think about it..  I
wonder
> >how many repair jobs are not done because the peoples' tuner thinks it
is
> >too much money for someone else to fix but yet will not do it
themselves.
> >Kind of made me mad.
> >James Grebe
> >R.P.T. of the P.T.G.
> > Since 1962 in St. Louis, MO.
> >  Caster Cup Center of the Universe
> >Home of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups
> >pianoman@inlink.com