<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16587" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>  David & David</DIV> <DIV>  Chill my brothers.  I've heard that true artisans & professionals are paid for <STRONG><EM>what they know</EM></STRONG> not necessarily how much time is put in. How you ethically balance that is based on ones own integrity of course but as an example.  The voicing I can put on a piano & transform it in one or two hours of intense labor might take some less experienced all day. So was I worth less than the 8 hour tech? </DIV> <DIV>  If I'm the only guy in 200 miles that can solve a problem like this & travel a day to get there and solve the problem no one else could.... then it  should be worth a flat day rate even if the problem only required an hour once I got there. Or if I'm the last Piano tuner in Calif what would my worth be then? food for thought</DIV> <DIV> Maybe this is fuzzy math but  my point is in the intrinsic value of a service not necessarily in raw hours alone.</DIV> <DIV>  As for parts markup. <STRONG>I'm stunned</STRONG> at how many have failed to due this to some degree. But to each there own.</DIV> <DIV>  We don't charge a huge mark up but we do some  to cover cost, continuing education & experience to know what parts work in what ways.  Our continuing education is worth being rimbursed by the client & usually leads to better service & less problems thereby costing our clients less & providing a seriously competent service.</DIV> <DIV> When I went to the Porsche guy last week for a fuel pump he didn't say the Labor is $80 & the pump is at my cost. This is how we pay for experience & our facilities. BTW the pump was $440 & the labor $80.00.</DIV> <DIV>  Think he made money? hmmm</DIV> <DIV>  Dale</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>On Feb 13, 2008, at 7:30 AM, David Love wrote:</DIV><BR class=Apple-interchange-newline> <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 13px Arial; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; orphans: 2; widows: 2; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0"><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>If you are “padding” your labor to some would find that as objectionable (or more so) than adding a reasonable mark-up on parts.</SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV> <DIV>Well...it depends on how you're holding it, David Love. If my team did less than our best on every bid, if we didn't put countless extra hours into the job, talking and thinking and experimenting about it when we're "off the clock,"  if it was a "pad" like defense contractors or Mafia guys put on, just because they can, then your point is taken and processed. If you're talking about me and my colleagues Dale Erwin, Steve Bellieu, and Phenoyd Ezra, then please, <SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">please</SPAN> don't disrespect us by putting our love, our passion, our artisan's fierce dedication, our natural and constant "overtime," into that same smelly, thuggy basket. I hope you're not doing that.</DIV> <DIV><BR class=webkit-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>David Andersen</DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. <A title="http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565" href="http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565" target="_blank">AOL Music takes you there.</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>