<WBR>What Bob said. Several years ago when gas was going up, I asked my son, (the CPA), if I should raise my fee, and he explained it just the way Bob just did. I think most companies that are adding a "surcharge" are doing it mostly to get more money out of us, than to compensate them for the added fuel charge.  Raise your fee if you haven't done so in at least a year. Otherwise, just let it go. <br> <br> One thing you can do to save money is to bunch your customers together more than ever. Tell them to save gas, you really want to tune their piano and others in the same zip code, on a particular day. Even go as far as telling them that you'll call them the night before and give them a time, so that you can drive in a straight line within the same zip code, instead of crossing tracks. I think most customers will probably respect you for it, and adjust their schedule accordingly. <br> <br> Even on a small island like Oahu I have been able to make adjustments to my schedule so that I don't have to cross paths. <br> <br> <div style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<br> Piano Tuner/Technician<br> Honolulu, HI<br> Author of <br> The Business of Piano Tuning<br> available from Potter Press<br> www.pianotuning.com</div> <br> <br> -----Original Message-----<br> From: BobDavis88@aol.com<br> To: pianotech@ptg.org<br> Sent: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 6:51 pm<br> Subject: Re: Fuel surcharge?<br> <br> <div id=AOLMsgPart_2_da89aa57-ff12-4a5d-8f5b-cbee8a157e94><FONT id=role_document face="Bookman Old Style" color=#000000 size=3> <div>Fuel surcharges are very trendy, but I assume that my customers are as irritated by them as I am (same with paying fifteen dollars to take a bag on an airplane - I would rather pay fifteen dollars more for the ticket). </div> <div> </div> <div>Also, just for the sake of argument, assume one customer is ten miles from the next, and that my car gets 30 mpg (it does). If gas goes from $2 to $4 per gallon, it costs me an extra $0.66 to drive to their house. I recently raised my fee by $15, so I don't think I want to annoy them for an extra 66 cents.</div> <div> </div> <div>Bob Davis</div> <div> </div> <div> <div>In a message dated 6/6/2008 9:02:55 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, <A href="mailto:mkurta@roadrunner.com">mkurta@roadrunner.com</A> writes:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Tahoma color=#000000 size=2> <div><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>     Last week I got a bill from my pool service with a fuel surcharge added.  Today I got another from my lawn service with a fuel surcharge also.  Should we,  1. Absorb the higher travel costs and say nothing or,  2. Add a fuel surcharge too or, 3. Raise our rate to cover the extra cost and lump it together with tuning?  Comments?</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta, RPT</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Auburn, NY</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Soon to be moving to the Chicago area.....</FONT></div> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></div> </FONT><br> <br> <br> <div><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black"> <HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px"> Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. <A title=http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002 href="http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002" target=_blank>Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food</A>.</FONT></div> </div> <div id='u8CA96785FC9705A-DB0-DF2' class='aol_ad_footer'><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Stay informed, get connected and more <A title="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?&ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" href="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?&ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" target="_blank">with AOL on your phone</A>.</FONT> </div>