>I don't like the word "troll" either. That sounds like used car saleman >speak. Please keep the door to door salesmanship off the list. And out of my house. >That being said, Ron, have you ever seen a performance race care covered >in grease and filth? Before, or after the race? I sure don't see the pit crew washing them with a refueling and tire change, so they must not think it's too crucial to the function of the car. >The first order of business is a clean machine. That IS a priority in my >book. Fine, if the customer wants it and is willing to pay for the time. If they don't, or aren't, what then. What's your second priority? > Nearly every new customer I see has a filthy piano that hasn't been > vacuumed out in 40 years. Likewise. >Usually the other tuner didn't want to carry the vacuum in or possibly >preferred working in dirt or maybe, like in your case, the work is >beneath them. That's a lot of random assumptions for one sentence. I don't know any piano techs, including myself, who don't want to carry the vacuum in, prefer working in dirt, or consider the work beneath them. As I said, and you don't seem to have read, I'll certainly clean the piano if they are willing to pay for it. Most don't ask, and most who do ask aren't. I get the impression that the customers I deal with here aren't the sort of folks most of the rest of you are dealing with. They want to know why something costs what it does. They know what a tuning costs, because they are either repeat customers, or they asked when the appointment was made. They also know what a pitch raise costs for the same reason, and what my hourly rate is for repairs, cleaning, putting pianos on stage trucks, regulation, voicing, or whatever. I don't do windows. They buy what they want, and pay for what they get, and their sense of right and justice is quite comfortable with that. While they might not object to someone trying to sell them $30 worth of something extra if it seams rational, they aren't too interested in spending a tuning and a half's worth of cash to take up that 40 years worth of dust that wasn't of particular concern to them or anyone else for all those years. They ask if it will hurt the piano to remain. If so, when? Will it suddenly become destructive after 40 years of relative benevolence? No, it won't, and if it has done the piano any harm, which I doubt, it must be an extremely slow acting poison, so we have a decade or two to consider our answer without significant danger. Will the piano sound better without the dust? Again, no. I could lie to them and tell them yes, but they are an unreasonable lot. They would expect to actually be able to hear the difference, and would be somewhat reluctant to pay for it, or consider ever calling me again if it didn't. Most aren't willing to pay the price for the cosmetics of a reasonably thorough clean up. A quick sweeping and vacuuming of the chunks still leaves the piano pretty ugly and funky, but that gets done occasionally when the customer wants to make a gesture or get the bigger nasties out without spending much. Allergies are another matter. Cosmetics, and cost, are secondary to getting the pathogens out of the area. No problem. I'll work from the big chunks down to as fine as they want to go. When the minute hand gets to where the piano looks clean enough to suit them, I'm done. The piano, you see, isn't mine. I can't have cleanliness as a first priority if I wanted to unless I was willing to do it free. I'm not. There may be a "full service" tech in my area that charges 1.5 or 4 hours worth each visit and looks for whatever he can find to fill the time twice a year, but if there is, I haven't heard of him. It would be nice, I must admit. The pianos would be in better shape, and the work would be easier. >Just the IDEA of the need to keep their instrument clean sets them in the >right frame of mind. What need is that, incidentally, other than yours? Don't they ever ask? > Also, the customer is not going to ask you to clean the piano, no more > than they're going to ask you to check the let-off. But they do. At least mine do. As I said, you must have different folks for customers than I do. Ron N
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