What would YOU do?

[PDtek@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-06-15 11:18:33 EDT, you write:

> > Last Saturday a man called me.  He just moved into the area from a large
>  > city and is looking for an RPT to service his Kawai console

Statements like this one really puzzle me. Maybe its because the guild has
more of a presence in some areas than others, but in fifteen years of full
time tuning for everyone from private residences, to universities, to the
opera, to large concerts, never once has anyone EVER asked me if I was a
member of the guild, let alone an RPT.

I take that back. I was asked a couple of weeks ago. One of the largest
Baldwin/Yamaha dealers in the midwest approached me about taking over all of
the Baldwin in-house, field and concert service in addition to the PianoDisc
work I do for them. One of the things that clinched the job for me, besides
the fact that they had always been happy with previous work I had done for
them, was that I was NOT a member of the guild. Seems the dealer overheard a
group of techs at a guild gathering exchanging derogetory Baldwin jokes. This
was not the first time this dealer had witnessed this phenomenon. He has found
that many techs feel that the Baldwin product is beneath them, and drive
customers away from buying pianos they are truly happy with.

Now, nobody needs to defend the guild to me, as I have attended many
conventions. The best minds in piano technology belong to the guild, and the
guild is largely responsible for the high level of service our customers enjoy
today. And the behavior of some does not speak for everyone. Just a couple of
things it might do well to keep in mind with the upcoming convention: 1.
Dealers are the life blood of the future of our business and  2. Watch what
you say, you never know who might be listening.

Dave Bunch