<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16414" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Actually, the cheapskates I have found, are the
people with money, the big houses etc.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Sorry if I missed that in your messages.
</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>It is so easy, to miss a message, or skip a
sentence or two, and the original intent of the message is
lost.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=a440@bresnan.net href="mailto:a440@bresnan.net">A440 Piano
Service</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">PTG List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 16, 2007 7:06
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> re: Spectrum of Customers (was
"paid for pitch raises")</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><!--StartFragment --><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT
size=4> <STRONG><FONT face="Bell MT">John Ross
wrote:</FONT></STRONG></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM>You forgot the other customer.</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM>The one who <FONT face="Times New Roman">genuinely</FONT> has
a shortage of money. After all, there are a lot of people who work, at or
close to minimum wage.</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM>They have pianos and children taking lessons. I feel they
deserve the service of a knowledgeable technician, who will not overcharge
them, and do only the work required, by their usage.</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM>So cheapskate is not a term, I would apply to
them.</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca"
target=_blank>jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John, I didn't forget. I wrote about a spectrum. That's two
ends with a lot of shades between each end. I live in Montana, one of
the lowest per capita income states in the country. Last I heard, we
were second from the bottom. I'm TOTALLY familiar with the people you
refer to. They are MOST of my fellow citizens and customers,
I'd bet. And I don't apply the term "cheapskate" to them, either.
But there ARE cheapskates. Some of them even make a lot of money.
"Cheapskate" is an <EM>attitude</EM> that includes, but is not limited to
"me first", "what's the cheapest way?", "can't I get by with just
such-and-such?", "win/lose is better than win/win as long as I'm the
winner", "what's my price? (which should be lower than anyone else's!)", et
al. Come on. You know what I'm talking about! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And I also agree with Mike Kurta, who wrote: </DIV>
<DIV><!--StartFragment -->
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><EM>John, you are correct in your analysis of
both ends of the customer spectrum. However in my experience both
these examples represent about 5 percent each of the total customer
base. The vast majority are plain folks that either play at home or have
a child or children who play. They are easy to deal with, want a fair
shake and will likely have you back the next time. </EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><EM> Mike
Kurta</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I'm not suggesting that anyone should toss aside anybody
who's not "American Express Gold Card", by calling them a cheapskate and being
done with it. No, I'm just saying those are the extremes, and I think if
your customer is getting to you by being too near the "cheapskate" END of the
spectrum, it's worth considering cutting your losses and
running!</FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>