<HTML>Thanks to all who respond= ed.  Lots of good advice there! I always give customers the PTG pamphlets on pitch raising and regulatio= n.  The "gentleman" seems to want to remain ignorant as to why his pian= o wasn't stable.   I called him today to set a time, and he began to tell me that there was= a funny noise in the piano, and that the bass was out of tune.  I reit= erated that it wouldn't surprise me, given the neglect that he'd heaped on i= t.   I arrived at the house, and only the non-English speaking mother-in-law = was there.  I played a bit, and noticed--not at all surprisingly--that = many of the unisons in the temperament and mid treble had gone a bit south.I= touched up a couple.  Don't know why I did that.   The bass sounded as good as  it could in a 5'1" piano  grand p= iano.  Then I heard the buzz.  I could not isolate the sound witho= ut an assistant to hit it while I hunted for it, so with some sign language,= I enlisted the aid of the Mother-in-law.  Within about 10 seconds I lo= cated a piece of lego on the soundboard near the end of the long bridge. &nb= sp;Removed.  Sound gone. It was then that I noticed that the window it is next to is a single-pan= ed window, and that there was an open heater duct directly underneath the ta= il of the piano.  I called the *********** and politely pointed out tha= t there was a foreign object on the soundboard, and that it had been removed= .  I gave him the word on the effect of heat and moisture on pianos. &n= bsp; He proceeded on as if he had never heard me, saying that the teacher had= said what a good job I do on pianos.  He  continued on that the b= ass sounded out of tune.  I guess being ignorant makes it easy to be a = jerk.  I told him to have the teacher call me.  I understand that = he is an idiot who is trying to get something for nothing, and is impossible= to reason with.   If he calls me again, I will recommend the worst cowboy tooner that I kn= ow of. As if by magic, my next job was about 5 houses away, and it was tuning a= barely-out-of-tune Grotrian 189(about 6' 3").  When I'd finished and g= one through my arpeggios, she said that the piano had never sounded better! =  Just what I needed to hear!   Dave Stahl <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">It's really important to ge= t this information to them right at the start.  I usually end up with t= he comment, "Though it will cost more this time, at least you are not having= to pay for all the tunings it's missed!"   </BLOCKQUOTE> Sound advice, Barbara. I also find the PTG Technical Bulletins very helpful. The one for Pitch = Raise spells it out well, except for your phrase above. It's a good point, a= nd I use it occasionally, but I'm sometimes hesitant to point out how many h= undreds of dollars that they've saved for fear of them deciding that it's a = viable long-term technique! The bulletins are effective because customers wi= ll normally have a bit more respect for the printed word. And.... with canta= nkerous customers, my communications skills go down the toilet. The ptg.org = address is on my invoices, estimates, and letterhead, also. Sending the cust= omer to the .net has other advantages, also. Like getting the customer off y= our shoulder while working. Entertaining career, no? Guy Nichols, RPT Ft. Stinkin' Desert, NM "Controversy equalizes fools and wise men and the fools know it."            &nbsp= ;   Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) </HTML>