Tuning/Regulation Marketing

[Farrell]

Not to worry mate! No worries here! No, it was just the marketing approach
that knocked me off my chair!

**On its own page the following (at the top of the list of topics to click
on):

WARNING

Over the years the Piano Industry has seen some very unethical members -
they have been akin to the proverbial "car sales man" - often these people
haven't been trained and because they are musically gifted think they can
tune and repair a piano - the results of their shoddy work is out there!
Many of these people only work in the industry part time and never develop
the required skills to do a professional job. (These people are often
recognised by unrealistic charge out rates, or offering pianos for sale at
low prices (which are general junk), or by not having an official business
structure.)

Piano tuning is much more then pulling the string into tune, it is
understanding the sound production and development and the correct function
of the keys. The unethical pratice of just pulling the strings into tune has
lead to many pianos being badly out of regulation. Your tuner should be
sacked if they don't work on touch and tone at EACH tuning visit. Remember
the 3 T's - TOUCH, TUNING & TONE.

**On a separate page under tuning:

TUNING

All our tuning is conducted by ear - this is recommended by companies such
as Steinway & Sons. A440 is the pitch we tune to, although we can tune at
any other pitch. Tuning takes in the 3 T's - Touch, Tuning and Tone (these 3
T's make up our standard "Tuning" and are outlined in the following).

Our tuning service is based on a hourly rate, we do not have fixed prices.
On average the tuning (string pulling) time should be about 1 1/2 hours
however if the piano has not been tuned for a number of years, more time
could be required for this. On average the Touch & Tone side of the "tuning"
takes up to about 3 hours for an Upright and about 7 hours for a Grand
(however at times we need to spend more for Concert Work). Tuning does is
not including any repairs of felt replacement that may be required. Travel
expences are to be applied to the tuning fee, based from Palmerston North.
We travel anywhere in New Zealand

**This is me back again. So it would seem that to do an ethical tuning on a
1952 Howard grand, for example, I will spend about 8-1/2 hrs. @ $60/hr. =
$520 plus any repairs of felt replacement that may be required, oh, and
travel expences are to be applied to the tuning fee. Hey, if I could do 5
tunings like this a day, I would be doing A-OK!

I guess my point was that the marketing suggests a service that you will
find nowhere else - and unless you use it, your piano will fall into
disrepair. In fact, any well-trained full service technician offers this. I
would think it better to simply do a standard tuning, and then spend a few
moments and educate the owner about regulation, voicing, etc. I do agree
with one thing here, and that is that the technician that does not offer
regulation, etc. and does not mention this aspect of piano service to the
owner is indeed doing a disservice to the owner.

Not to worry!

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <rbrekne@broadpark.no>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 11:03 AM
Subject: Re: Tuning/Regulation Marketing


> I really see no problem with the fellows basic approach as I saw it
origionally
> presented... perhaps his wording was a bit er..... strong.. but otherwise
I tend
> to aggree that just going and whipping out a tuning is only doing part of
the
> job, and causes in the end a lot of misunderstanding and yes...
unregulated
> neglected pianos.
>
> Terry, would you mind copying of the origional and full statement as you
found
> it on his site. I would like to see as well so as to better understand
your
> worries about the fellow misleading the public.
>
> RicB
>
> Farrell wrote:
>
> > The statement was off a web site of a tech. The reason I addressed it as
> > marketing is that it was just that: marketing and not practice. I agree
with
> > your statements Clyde.
> >
> > Looking further into the policies stated by the tech, it was clear that
he
> > charged 1-1/2 hours labor for tuning and any repairs, regulation,
voicing,
> > etc. was extra at the hourly charge. He even charged additional for
travel
> > to the tuning appointment. I think his marketing statement was that each
> > service appt. should include all this other service, and that very few
techs
> > are qualified/aware of what to do to accomplish this. The subject
statement
> > struck me as misleading in that it comes off as you will get your piano
> > regulated, tuned, and voiced for just a regular tuning fee, and that
other
> > techs that do not do that are unethical.
> >
> > Terry Farrell
> >
>
> --
> Richard Brekne
> RPT, N.P.T.F.
> Bergen, Norway
> mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
>
>