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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The key here is discussing the situation with the client
before doing any work. I don't even ease a key bushing without telling the
client what I am wanting to do - even if I don't charge them for it. If nothing
else, it lets the client know that I'm a good guy and making their piano better.
And definitely, never pull an action with consent from the
customer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Regarding a mis-diagnosis of a problem. IMHO, if you know
what you are doing and follow a logical approach to evaluating the problem, you
charge for all your efforts - even if some avenues you pursue are a dead-end.
However, if you do a task, it doesn't work, and then realize that you should
have gone another route in the first place - a more logical route - I wouldn't
charge for my mistake.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>For instance - you have a buzz on a bass string C1 - maybe
even have some faint buzzing from C2 and C3 - but C1 buzzes loudly. So you
replace C1 and find that all the buzzes are still there. Then you go sniffing
around under the plate and find a handful of pennies on the soundboard. You
remove the pennies and all the buzzing goes away. In such a case, the more
logical approach would have been to search under the plate first - I would
charge the customer for the time it took me to locate and remove the pennies,
but not for replacing the bass string.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I have done work that I didn't charge for. If its my goof,
I don't charge.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>But if the problem is with an action - you will almost
always spent time looking at the wrong thing - but that is the way you assess an
action. You start at the key, work your way to the wippen, check that out, move
to the hammer butt and flange, etc., etc. Even though you spend a couple minutes
evaluating the key and wippen - which were operating just fine - you bill them
for that time because it was the logical course to follow.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Yesterday I spent a half-hour diagnosing several sticking
keys on an Aeolian spinet. I charged them for all my time. I feel I followed a
logical path, and finally made my diagnosis - the felt on the bottom of the
damper levers had deteriorated and the spoon was catching on it somehow. She
chose to fix the problem (I advised her to junk the piano), I yanked the action,
and low-and-behold found that the spoons were like little 80-grit boring
machines that had bored little bomb craters into the damper lever felt - never
seen anything like that before - these perfectly shaped pits were just big
enough for the spoon and went all the way through the felt to the wood. Anyway,
seems like 30 minutes is a long time to find a dent in a piece of felt, but it
was unusual and I felt I followed a logical progression during my
effort.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Hope some of that helps.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV> My first thought is- was it ringing before you
tuned it? I assume you were there to tune the piano. Did you
discuss the repair with the customer? If not, and you expected the
repair to be a "quickie", you just ate it. Otherwise, I think you would
be justified charging whatever you think was fair. It wouldn't be fair
to charge a customer for your learning curve, so I'd figure that into your
charges, and adjust accordingly. </DIV>
<DIV> You know, it brings up a question. If I'm
struggling with a particular problem, and I can't seem to get it fixed right,
is it ethical to charge for the mistakes I made in mis-diagnosis of the
problem? Like when you take your car in for repair, and they try this
and that, replacing parts until the problem goes away. And you pay for
the whole thing. It doesn't seem fair to me that way. </DIV>
<DIV> Better to charge for the job than by the
hour. Knowing what to charge for that job is the critical
thing. </DIV>
<DIV> Food for thought...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Paul McCloud</DIV>
<DIV> San Diego</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV><FONT
size=2>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"><SPAN class=EmailStyle16><FONT
face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><SPAN
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class=EmailStyle16><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt">I’m sure something similar has happened
to everyone on the list.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I
noticed one damper had a long after-ring, so tried to bend it up, down,
sideways, etc., to make it contact the strings better.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No dice.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Had to pull the action.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is one of the dampers right
against a plate strut, with the long right-angle bend before the damper wire
goes down the guide hole.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Anyhow, pulled the damper, made what I thought was the necessary
bend, and of course t! he damper head comes loose from the wire, even though
I was holding it tightly in place with parallel pliers.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Had to plug the hole with a
toothpick splinter and tap the wire back into the hole with a small punch,
then add a drop of CA glue.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Then put the damper back in the underlever, regulated, re-installed
the action and tried it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Nope.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Still rings.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>By now probably 15 or 20 minutes
have elapsed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Yes I have the
tool that enables bending it side to side with the damper in place.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No dice.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Still rings.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Pull the action and damper again,
try squeezing the felt to make it sett! le down farther into the strings,
reinstall damper, reinstall action, try again.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nope, still rings.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>By now about a half hour has
elapsed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Pull action and damper
again, try fluffing up the felt with a voicing tool on the one string that
still rings.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Reinstall
everything and try again.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Better, but now the 7<SUP>th</SUP> partial is too strong.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Try bending forward and back to kill
the partial.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No dice.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This goes on and on for another half
hour before I finally get the damper to satisfactorily dampen that
note.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Do I now charge $65 just
for adjusting one damper?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>How
do I explain this to the customer?<SPAN yle="mso-spacerun: yes" st!>
</SPAN>Certainly if I had let it ring, I would have gotten a call-back about
it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>--David Nereson, RPT<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=EmailStyle16><FONT color=black
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>