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Alan,
Like you, I'd have a letter composed in my mind before I got down the block.
Some of us always think it's something WE'VE done when it really isn't.
She may have just gotten back from her oncologist with bad news, who knows.
It's really hard NOT to take these things personally, though.
I'd send the letter with a few minor changes. I don't know that it will do
any good with her, but it will do YOU good.
Don Bose's advice from past posts about customer encounters that went wrong
has really helped me in getting the customer's expectations in line with the
services I offer and the prices at which I offer them. It really keeps
things tidy and unemotional on both sides.
On a tangential note, I was reading Ray Bentley's response to Alan's note.
While it is true that there is really nothing that would qualify your average
associate to advertise as a PTG member, there are those of us with a
conscience--probably all of the associates who read and contribute to this list--who
joined fully expecting to become RPTs in the not too distant future. We
have and make good use of a vast bank of knowledge in the PTG. But I still
refuse to advertise my affiliation until I'm an RPT.
Then there things like I saw today. I occasionally encounter pianos tooned
by Tooners like Kwang Jen--I will use his name here, because he has
advertised falsely. I replaced a keytop and did some other minor repairs,
pitch-raised and tuned a piano that he'd "TOONED" in November. It sounded like crap,
was flat and all over the map tuning-wise, and he couldn't even replace a
keytop--or refer someone to the customer who could! None of that surprised me.
What DID surprise me was his business card, which says:
Kwang Jen
Professional Piano Tuner
Piano Technician's Guild Member
510-438-0116 tel-fax
I include all of this information because I was wondering if there is a way
to cross-reference members by phone number, in case he uses another name.
After I was done with the job, I looked him up in the directory. Nada.
I seriously doubt that anyone who is in any way associated with the PTG
would do the shoddy work that I witnessed today. So I'm inclined to call Kwang,
or better yet, get ahold of the Better Business Bureau and discuss this
matter with them.
Comments, suggestions, etc., would be appreciated.
Dave Stahl
In a message dated 4/21/05 4:49:20 PM Pacific Daylight Time, ray@bentley.net
writes:
I doubt that sending the letter would do anything for either you or her.
Her mind is already made up. Perhaps she'll call you again and act totally
differently. Sometimes, the less said, the better.
One point in your letter, however, mentions that you are the only Guild
technician.....
Anyone can pay dues and be a guild member. It becomes meaningful only after
the tests to become RPT have been passed. When advertising in this manner
or in an ad, it is important that guild status be included.
At 05:47 PM 4/21/2005, you wrote:
Had to happen sooner or later. Visit people who don't play much, tune
annual. He's nice. She was okay in past. She not home. Sit at piano. 20+ cents flat
after period of high humidity around here. Tell him it needs pitch
correction. Work on piano for 2 1/2 hours. She's now home, comes in as I'm trying to
take a little Story & Clarke wine out of the unisons. Scowl. "We have places
to go today! How much longer is this going to take?" Oh, says I, I'm just
finishing up. "How much." Well it needed pitch correction, you see, blah blah
blah, so it's $140 today.
[Insert sound of Banshee With Bellyache here]
"Why, we haven't even moved that piano." (Me: chuff, hrgmff, choke ...)
{Caution Serious Rant Zone Ahead}
WHAT THE HELL IS IT WITH THIS 'MOVING THE PIANO CRAP'? EVERYONE KNOWS(!)
THATS WHAT MAKES PIANOS NEED TUNING (puff puff pant) DID THE GOVERNMENT USED TO
PRINT THAT FACTOID(???!!!) ON CEREAL BOXES OR WHAT? SEEMS MOST FOLKS DON'T
KNOW A $#*%&* THING ELSE ABOUT THEIR PIANO BUT IF YOU ROLL IT 3 INCHES, THAT'S
WHEN YOU GOTTA CALL THE TUNER (OR IF A KEY IS 'STICKING.') OTHER THAN THAT,
IT CAN EASILY GO ANOTHER 15 YEARS AND SOUNDS JUST BLOODY GREAT, THANK YOU VERY
MUCH!
"Last time you were here you only charged me $50." No, Ma'am. It was $65 a
couple of years ago. Now it's $80 plus you needed the pitch raise.
Tried to explain. She wrote a check. I said, just pay me what you think it's
worth. She paid the full amount.
She won't be using me next time. That's okay. She will undoubtedly tell
everyone in her church--and it's a small community here--and anyone else who'll
listen that I am a rotten crook and I charge $140 to tune a piano--that hasn't
even been moved! That's not okay. Damn.
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