price raising

[Brown, David]

I'd like to throw in my two cents here.  I like the extra fee for old
uprights.  I dread them every time I get involved in such projects.  I spent
3 hours on Friday repairing hammers, reglueing damper felts, etc. and tuning
a piece of trash piano.  I charged $65 for the piano and $65 for the
repairs.  I also should mention that I had to dig through 2 inches of crud
and dust at the bottom of the piano to find all the missing parts.  I also
should mention that I had to travel 65 miles one way to the piano job.  Do
any of you charge extra for extreme mileage?

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: J Patrick Draine [mailto:draine@mediaone.net]
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 7:54 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Re: price raising


Clyde replied:

>Terry,
>
>I don't think you should give a discount for the worst ones, but charging a
>premium doesn't seem right to me, either.

Keep in mind that Terry wrote
>  > I charge $10 more
>>  for old uprights because I figure I will spend at least 10 minutes
gluing a
>  few hammers back on or the like.

And if you think about it, probably more than 10 minutes! Spacing 
hammers, adjusting capstans, etc. enough to get through a 
"minimalist" tuning!

>  your ethics could be in question.

Maybe we can all stand to rethink our definitions of "a service 
call", or how we'll reply to the phone call "How much does a piano 
tuning cost?", but Terry's ethics look pretty healthy to me, and I 
doubt his customers spend much time reviewing his activities in a 
negative light.
In fact there's always a number of customers who are suprised that my 
"basic tuning fee" is the same for grands as for uprights. Of course, 
the true amount of work that a piano needs depends on more factors 
than the "basic" fee (which I keep high enough to do minor pitch 
adjustments or lost motion adjustments): whether the action needs 
regulation, a major pitch raise is indicated, etc.

One of the many reasons we're all self employed, we're all free to 
set our own prices, and the customers can "call the experts" (who 
charge more), or search for the lowest bidder (and take their 
chances).

Patrick