Dear List members, Hi, my name is Brian Lawson and I have just joined this list. I am a Tuner/Technician in South Africa, although born and trained in UK at London College of Furniture, City & Guilds. I have read the recent messages on pitch raising, my few cents on it (SA cents) is to charge the customer for it if it is closer to a semitone or more out, which would mean having to go out to the customer again after a short time to give another tuning. These type of customers are (usually) new and have not had their pianos tuned for some time or have bought a piano privately, as the majority of customers who have their pianos tuned regularly have their pianos on pitch. I would be interested in knowing the average cost of tunings are around the world, here it is about R240 (that is SA Rand), at current US$ exchange that is $42, though I believe buying power of a Dollar and a Rand are closer. ie. a Big Mac here costs R8.60 = $1.50, does it cost that in USA. Back in 1980 when in UK cost of a tuning was about 5 pounds, what now? BTW,There is no Guild or Association here in SA so standards are up to the individual tuner - what reputation does he want. Brian Lawson Johannesburg, South Africa
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