[pianotech] basic or full service

[Ken & Pat Gerler]

I have watched all the "traffic" on the "basic" or "full" service and I (or my wife) tell/s anyone "searching" for service on an acoustic piano my procedures. On a first call, they can expect a higher charge than a minimum fee for service, as I will not service an instrument if I can not leave it in some sort of playing condition; i.e. all notes working whether the regulation is perfect or not, but no bobbling hammers or sluggishness anywhere.  Those things give "fits" to the person trying to play the instrument.

Over the 40 years, the above has been a positive for me, as I will get calls, saying "you did 'so and so's piano and I want you to take care of mine'". So I don't need the try to get that individual that is trying to "cut corners" on service of their instrument. I tell them there are other "tuners" in the area they might try calling.  If I get a call on a tuning at a last minute when I am booked up, I refer the caller to other RPTs that are close to the individual.

By the way, I also service electronic instruments (Organs and digital pianos) so I don't send reminders on piano tuning as that would book me 20 hours a day.

Ken Gerler 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Terry Farrell 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 7:18 AM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] basic or full service


  Sounds reasonable to me Wim. BTW, what on earth is a Rust Blocker shield?


  Terry Farrell


  On Mar 12, 2010, at 2:42 AM, wimblees at aol.com wrote:


    After digesting all the information recently about basic and premium service, I have come up with a new way to answer the phone calls I get asking how much I charge. As I might have indicated before, my "basic" tuning fee is one of the highest on the island. But what most customers don't understand is that I do more for my basic tuning than most piano tuner offer for their tuning fee. But because all they hear is that high fee, they call other tuners who charge much less. 

    Well, today, I came up with a brilliant idea. From now on, when a customer calls asking for my tuning fee, I will tell them that my "basic" tuning fee will be $%%%. (I won't mention the actual price, because of ant- trust laws, which I don't completely agree with. But that's another story), which is competitive with the other tuners. For that fee, I will give a one pass tuning with an electronic tuner, but nothing else. All repairs, regulations, parts, etc, will be extra. Then I will tell them that I also offer a "full service" tuning, for $&&&& , which is $40 higher, but will include minor pitch adjustments, minor repairs, minor regulation, some cleaning, and a Rust Blocker shield, valued at $22. In a sense, I will get paid the same for what I have been charging all along, but by offering the "basic" fee first, it will get my foot in the door. Other tuner also charge more once they get in the door, but they don't disclose that when they set up the appointment. Even if I wind up only doing a basic tuning, and collect that lower fee, as I said in an earlier post, I would rather tune 6 pianos at lower fee, than 2 pianos at a higher fee. 

    I think this is basically what the other tuner offered, but he called it "premium", and was offering it to his existing customers. I also offer additional service, but I'm trying to get new customers. Because of our current economic environment, and because I don't have the luxury of relying on my 30 or 40 years of reputation in the same town, I have to do all I can to gain customers. 

    Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT 
    Piano Tuner/Technician
    94-505 Kealakaa Str. 
    Mililani, Oahu, HI  96789
    808-349-2943 
    www.Bleespiano.com
    Author of: 
    The Business of Piano Tuning 
    available from Potter Press 
    www.pianotuning.com

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