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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>OK, not to be argumentative here, but, my percentage of
people that will cancel when I call to remind them is higher than my percentage
of no shows. Neither is very high mind you, but with all the calls I have to
make anyway, and enjoying having my evening free, I don't call unless they
request it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Fenton</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=pianolover88@hotmail.com
href="mailto:pianolover88@hotmail.com">pianolover 88</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, August 05, 2008 4:53
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: No- shows..... again +
digressions</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>There's a simply way to avoid no-shows-at least it works for
me:<BR><BR><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">CALL THE <SPAN
style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">NIGHT BEFORE</SPAN> TO CONFIRM &
REMIND!</SPAN><BR><BR>Terry Peterson<BR><BR>> Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008
16:14:18 -0700<BR>> From: <A
href="mailto:mark.purney@mesapiano.com">mark.purney@mesapiano.com</A><BR>>
To: <A href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A><BR>> Subject:
Re: No- shows..... again + digressions<BR>> <BR>> For appointments made
over a week in advance, or for longer distance <BR>> appointments, I call
to confirm ahead of time. This tends to prevent <BR>> most no-shows from
happening in the first place.<BR>> <BR>> In the "Services Performed"
section of my invoice form, I have a line <BR>> for "Failed Appointment
Service Charge" for no-shows or no-access. <BR>> Depending on the
circumstances, I may choose not to bill the customer, <BR>> but I will make
sure they understand my policy is to charge a nominal <BR>> fee for
no-shows, so they know for next time.<BR>> <BR>> It costs money to drive
to an appointment and back, but more <BR>> importantly, we lose the
opportunity to earn money during that time slot <BR>> when we are stood up.
Many professional services charge for no-shows, <BR>> even if they don't
have to travel to the customer's location. My opinion <BR>> is that piano
technicians deserve the same courtesy and respect.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> I had one rather bad experience, involving a maid that made me wait
25 <BR>> minutes before letting me in to tune. It didn't get much better
after <BR>> that, and I felt like I was treated rather poorly throughout
the whole <BR>> job. I did charge for the 25 minutes at my hourly rate, and
they paid <BR>> the invoice without questioning it. I did not expect (or
want) to deal <BR>> with this client ever again, and I assumed they would
not be calling me <BR>> again, anyway. Oddly enough, this client
recommended my services to a <BR>> friend, and this friend turned out to be
a wonderful client. In <BR>> hindsight, I think the first client was just
having a really bad day, <BR>> and probably was not intending to make
things so unpleasant for me - I <BR>> was just in the wrong place at the
wrong time.<BR><BR>
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