<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PersonName"/>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue> <div class=Section1> Hi Terry,<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> No sarcasm intended, but if this is your first experience with a “nutty” customer, then you’ve been lucky indeed. Many if not most on this list have been down this road more than once, but fortunately the percentage of times is very, very low. We all have our war stories, and they are a part of this wild and wooly little industry of ours.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> The consensus on this list is that your customer’s credentials in many ways are highly questionable, that she is grief and more grief, cut your losses. I don’t mean to sound contrary to these thoughtful suggestions, but just to take the other side for the moment. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Although your narrative drips with emotion and angst from both parties involved (and again, I understand), what seems to missing is a reasonably clear sense of your customer’s complaint. Exactly what does she mean when she said,” hear that? It’s wrong! It’s all wrong!” She says her students are complaining: ask to talk to those students. Ask her to get them on the phone. I’m only half serious, it’s too late now, but it would have been a good call when it first came up.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> There are four real possibilities here: 1) she in fact does “hear” something obnoxious, whether you do or not, but was unable to adequately communicate it to you; 2) a blind test of several pianists and techs would insist, as you do, that she is mistaken; 3) she knows full well that she is trying to pull a fast one; 4) she is a nut case. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> If we leave all excuses about the piano’s deficiencies aside, you are sure that you have exhausted all reasonable attempts to solve number one, then this issue is dead, and any further pursuit is wasteful unless you want to go back for your own satisfaction (perhaps take along a tuning buddy with you). But you need to be convinced, not the rest of us on this list, but you, that you have exhausted number 1, within reason (nobody has all the answers). As I’m sure you know, these can be amazing learning experiences, the kind that have paved the way for most of us when we later found ourselves in a similar tricky situation, but now with a fine piano and pianist neither of which could easily be dismissed. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Many years ago, my first encounter like this involved a lady who referred to her piano keys as do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. She complained about note fa. Was it tuning? I showed her how it fit correctly with other intervals. Still no good. So, with her standing by I tuned the note to where she said, “Yes, I think that is where it should be.”  Now it sounded awful with other intervals and she had to agree. Yet back where the note blended, she still wasn’t satisfied. So was it the unison only? The particular voice of that unison? The harmonic structure of that note only? The stretch of my temperament? All these things?  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Then there is the “hanky trick” -- one of my favorites, especially on uprights. Place an ordinary thin handkerchief in front of the strings and play the notes. The sounds will be mellow but discernable. If the customer generally sparks up and says, “Oh, you know it’s a bit too dull, but it is noticeably more pleasing to my ears”, then you have a voicing issue. However, if you were to try this trick with your customer now, and she likes the idea, I would not proceed if I were you as the chances of even more frustration are lurking, and it is here that I agree with many of the List postings.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> As to my do, re, mi customer? I was too green at the time to exhaust number 1, and I was happy to refund her money. And with a clear head I went out and got some lunch --- a terrible tuna sandwich on a normal day, but it tasted real good that day.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Refunds are generally a bad idea, but not all cases are the same. Sleep on it and follow your best sense of things.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> All the best…<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> PS to the List … if refunds are going to be the new thread, then please make it so.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div> Nick Gravagne, RPT<o:p></o:p> Piano Technicians Guild<o:p></o:p> Member Society Manufacturing Engineers<o:p></o:p> Voice Mail 928-476-4143<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> <div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1> </div> From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Farrell Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 8:30 AM To: <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Pianotech List</st1:PersonName> Subject: Re: Customer Complaint on Tuning<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> <div> Wow. This is a first for me. This lady is nuts. I checked the piano out this past Sunday. It had a few unisons singing a bit (IMHO, not uncommon a week after doing a 25-cent pitch raise), but otherwise sounded fine (well, as "fine" as most any 1970 <st1:place w:st="on">Baldwin</st1:place> console sounds). And I told her so. I checked octaves, thirds, fourths, etc., etc. and it's all in the ballpark.<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> She plays a tune and stops and says "hear that? it's wrong"! Well, sure, anytime you play an E and an F# together it sounds pretty bad! But she'd play other things and stop and say "that's wrong". Sounded fine to me. I didn't know what to say really. We did talk about the possibility that she had just gotten used to how it sounded when it was way out of tune. She agreed to play it a bit more and see.<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> So she calls me just now ranting and raving "it's all wrong, it's all wrong".  She says even her students are complaining. What the ........<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> She tells me that some times one song will sound fine, and then the next one sounds wrong.<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Does the piano good. Of course not. It sounds like a crappy little Baldwin console that has sat too many years on the back porch (enclosed) of a home in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>. But it sounds to be in as good a tune as any little piano like it.<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> So I guess the next step is to simply tell her that I don't seem to be able to satisfy her piano service needs and that she might be more satisfied with someone else's services. But that leaves one question remaining - in her view I have not tuned her piano - in my view I have. I don't think I should be returning her $95 (yeah, yeah, I didn't charge her for the pitch raise....). But then again, I'm sure she's on some sort of fixed income, and I've really never had an unhappy customer before......<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> I don't think there is any real good resolution to this situation. Any great ideas? Just tell her to find someone else and leave it at that? Seems like the only thing that makes any sense to me - but I kinda hate taking her money also.....<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Terry Farrell<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> </div> </body> </html>