[pianotech] age-old question of what to charge for almost nothing

[David Ilvedson]

For your fee, show her how to remove the fallboard...

"Remove a pencil and you have removed it for a day.   Teach how to remove the pencil and she can remove pencils for a lifetime"

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "David Nereson" <da88ve at gmail.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Received: 1/15/2010 2:49:44 AM
Subject: [pianotech] age-old question of what to charge for almost nothing


>    A piano teacher (not my client) calls me out of the blue to 
>come remove a pencil as soon as possible.  It sure seems 
>callous, unfeeling, gouging, and unprofessional to charge a full 
>minimum 1-hour billing fee of $75 just to remove the pencil. 
>But if we don't, then word gets around that we're cheap, so 
>everyone calls expecting low rates, and we end up working for 
>free, almost.  So do I go ahead and charge $75 just to remove a 
>pencil?
>    --David Nereson, RPT