Hi John, I think it was the right thing to try.  I personally don't like splicing, but can see it's benefits, especially if the piano is to be really used soon, not just little Sally's first year of piano lessons.  It's hard to have to put a string on when the customer is at such a distance.  I would have tried the same thing first as well. I don't think you did anything causing the knot to break. Just bad luck.   The mechanic comparison is right on, and I too understand him charging for something even if it didn't work.  My mechanic will do the same thing to try and save me a bit of dough ray me. Good luck next time :>) Paul <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td width=40%>"John Formsma" <formsma@gmail.com> Sent by: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org 04/18/2008 05:40 PM <table border> <tr valign=top> <td bgcolor=white> <div align=center>Please respond to Pianotech List <pianotech@ptg.org></div></table> <td width=59%> <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>To</div> <td>"Pianotech List" <pianotech@ptg.org> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>cc</div> <td> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>Subject</div> <td>Re: Failed string splicing -- charge for time?</table> <table> <tr valign=top> <td> <td></table> </table> On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 9:43 AM, Paul T Williams <<a href=mailto:pwilliams4@unlnotes.unl.edu>pwilliams4@unlnotes.unl.edu</a>> wrote: John, Do you charge a minimum fee for those few pianos that nothing can be done? Especially if far from home....  Does the Maytag man charge you when he/she comes and the dishwasher is shot and you'll have to buy another?  You should by all means charge something for your efforts, otherwise, you're just cheating yourself!  Paul, Yes, I do charge for service calls. I suppose my question is really about my judgment concerning the string splice attempts. Maybe another way to ask the question is this: Was it right for me to try splicing, and/or was it anything I did that might have caused the knot to break?   At this point, I don't think it was anything I did. However, I wanted to be fair to the customer.   On the way home. I was trying to think of other examples where I would be the customer, and another person would be the technician. I thought of my mechanic... if he tried to fix something on my car that didn't work, I think I would be grateful for the attempt. However, I am a "fellow technician" in a sense, so I understand that kind of thing. :-) -- JF