To avoid these issues, just say at the beginning or end of each appointment, "Is there anything I need to look at BESIDES the tuning?". I generally say this at each appointment -- however, not for the purpose of avoiding these type callback issues. But, it would at least establish that there was no service item other than tuning. Great one-liners, Tom! I'll need to remember these. -- JF On Sat, Nov 21, 2009 at 8:05 AM, Tom Driscoll <tomtuner at verizon.net> wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Nereson" <da88ve at gmail.com> > To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2009 6:50 AM > Subject: [pianotech] call-backs you can't charge for > > > A client called and said her daughter hears several buzzing notes. > >> Suddenly client shows up (was walking the dogs). I show her the screws, >> tell her there's no more buzzing, and she says, "Oh, thank you soooo much!" >> in a tone that's so grateful I can tell she thinks I came to remove the >> problem as a huge gratis favor, and that certainly I don't intend to charge >> anything. (When they say, "Do I owe you anything?" then you KNOW you'd >> better say, "No, that's OK -- I was in the neighborhood" or something >> similar.) >> > --David Nereson, RPT >> > > David, > One factor is wheather they are a repeat customer or not. A client of many > years has "earned " the freebie in my view. First time client? I respond in > a few ways depending on the vibe to : > > "Do I owe you anything ?" > > '"Yes , my basic service charge is X " > They pay and might be happy or not. > > > " My basic service charge is X . Let's just make it $20.00 to cover the gas > and some of my time" > They pay and feel like they got a break > > > > " No just continued patronage will due" > Maybe earning you a lifetime client, or maybe they will call another tuner > if the price is lower > > " How about $6.00 so I can buy a sandwich " > They laugh and either give you more or write a check for six dollars---like > you can spend that at the sub shop. > > I know we can all go off on these anecdotal stories, but one comes to mind > for me. > I tuned an asian grand --all routine then got a callback from the lady in > a very irritated tone about a noise in the piano that wasn't there before I > came. > I show up promptly and pull a pen out of the action cavity. > "Oh , that's all it was " No I'm sorry for accusing you . I didn't > charge and never saw them again. > > I guess my point is that we're all flying by the seat of our pants in these > type of situations and after three decades I'm still not sure what to do. > > Tom Driscoll > > > >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091121/ba65c06f/attachment.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC