Penalizing: Was "Betsy Ross pianos"

[Rozan Brown]

Terry,
Sorry!  Poor choice of words on my part.  I would never "penalize"
anyone for neglecting a piano or having a piano that is off pitch.  I do
try to charge appropriately for my labor and expertise, and, being
somewhat of a newbie still, if anything, I sometimes undercharge
(especially friends and acquaintances).  All part of my learning curve.
I certainly didn't mean to use the words in a way to upset anyone.

Rozan Brown
Madison, WI

> "....I didn't feel like penalizing (a piano owner)......"
>
> Is this just an arguably poor choice of words, or is such a thing
practiced?
>
> Please tell me that no techs around here "penalize" a piano owner for
having
> a piano that is off pitch - whether it was last tuned last week or in
1962.
> Please tell me we simply charge for our labor and expertise.
>
> Am I weird that this would grind me in a bad way?
>
> Terry Farrell
>
> P.S.  Sorry for using your post as an example Rozan - not trying to
pick on
> you - but we see this reference in so many posts and I wonder why.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rozan Brown" <rbrown@chorus.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: Betsy Ross pianos

> I figured it would be higher due to the radically different season.  I
> decided to go ahead and tune it anyway (because she asked me to do it
> now), but I floated the pitch high so that it will settle back for the
> fall and winter.
>
> This piano gets played only by the visiting little granddaughter, and
I
> don't think she'd spend the $$ for a D-C system.  BTW, I didn't charge
> anything extra for the pitch-lower, mainly because I didn't feel like
> penalizing an acquaintance for actually tuning her piano more than
> once/year (instead of the usual once/5-10 years), plus she's an
> acquaintance.  When she calls again, depending on the season, I'll
> suggest tunings in the spring and/or fall.
>
> Rozan Brown
> Madison, WI
>
> John Ross wrote:
> > It is higher because of the higher humidity.
> > Those that use a cents per $ figure would make a fortune around
here.
> > Just tune it each season. In Sept it can be 30c sharp, and in Jan it
> will be
> > 30c low. (Just above the break)
> > That is why I tell my customers, (rural) just once a year, when the
> heat is
> > on.
>