Fees - revisited

[William R. Monroe]

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Ted,

I think you make a valid point - that the experienced tech should not be =
shooting themself in the foot as their skill increases.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and presume that there will be those who =
agree with charging by the job (with a basis on hours, similar to auto =
service), those who promote charging actual time regardless, and lots in =
between.

Personally, I think the the piano industry allows us a freedom to =
determine our fees as we choose.  I think TO SOME DEGREE we owe it to =
our clients to charge them based on actual hours for a job.  I also =
think it is not unreasonable to charge a set fee for a particular job.  =
>From the clients perspective, the same work gets done either way.  With =
an experienced tech, it is simply done in less time (yeah, and probably =
better).  As a new tech, I guess I lean more toward a price per job, =
understanding that the extra time I take is my incentive to get more =
skilled so that I can do more work in less time and thus, make more =
money.

Bottom line for me is no hard and fast rule of fee scheduling.  I hope =
that as long as I am in the piano service industry we do not get =
regulations like those of the auto industry.  Tighter regulations have =
advantages, to be sure, but I think our current freedoms outweigh those. =
 In the meantime, work hard, charge fairly, and maintain your integrity.

William R. Monroe
PTG Associate
Salt Lake City, UT =20
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Ted Rohde=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 6:47 PM
  Subject: Fees - revisited


  List,
      I read with interest the discussion on how techs charge...hourly =
fees, etc.   If we base ourselves on hourly fees, do we not hurt our =
income in the long run?  I know how long it used to take me to do an =
action regulation on a Yamaha Grand.  I now can do that same job in less =
than half the time due to speed gained through experience.  Am I now to =
be docked because I've attained more experience and skill?   It seems =
wrong that a person like myself who has been working for 30+ years =
should have to contract more jobs just to keep up with the novice.  Even =
the auto repair industry has manuals listing hours per job to charge.=20
      Interested to hear responses.

  Thanks!!

  Ted Rohde - Central Illinois
  Lurking in the Background.

  PS  Sorry for the virus problem several weeks ago.  I didn't =
intentionally post messages to the site or even know I had it until =
several of you informed me.  The computer went on autopilot without my =
knowledge.  By all means, it's corrected with the newest Norton updates. =
   My apologies!!!

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