<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> John For the most part, piano technicians are willing to respond to reasonable complaints from clients. We make mistakes, or we forget to repair something, and as you said, a callback is an opportunity to learn something. I remember someone reporting that they hadn't removed their temperament strip from the previous tuning, still inserted between the unisons (curiously the customer had not complained). In recent years I've gotten criticisms from pianists who wear digital hearing aids. Working with them we've discovered that they needed to have their hearing aids reprogrammed for the broad spectrum of piano sounds. Sometimes it's something that can be fixed over the phone, like the squeaky pedal (player is wearing running shoes) or the dampers in the top notes of a grand piano that "I didn't put back in". Then there are the very rare clients who seem to be willfully clueless about what is meant by a tuning or have developed amnesia about what was verbally agreed upon at the outset of a job. I can only remember a couple of times returning a payment in such a case, thinking that if they are not happy with my work then I need to return their money. It might take enough wind out of their sails that they don't gripe, to me or their friends, about how I ripped them off. In any event a nutcase once every decade isn't going to ruin my career so why worry about it? Tom Cole John Dorr wrote: <blockquote cite="midweb-16638467@be-3.cluster1.bresnan.net" type="cite">I changed the name of the thread from "customer complaints" as per request. I'm weighing in with those who say there is probably no pleasing this lady and no matter what you do she will speak ill of you.  That's my best guess.  So you might as well keep the money as a "hedge", even, against a future tuning you _MAY_ lose due to her besmirching of your reputation.  You won't win whether you refund or not, and you've been there twice!  You deserve the dough. I'm also weighing in with those who say it's a great attitude to look at these challenges as an opportunity to learn something more.  Terry, I've been reading your posts for years and I totally respect you and I'm sure your tuning was great.  I'm sure YOU know more than me, so I'm not pointing any kind of finger at you.  Just in general, I'm saying that callbacks can OFTEN be an opportunity to learn something new. Like many others, I've had callbacks and learned from them.  One of mine was a large pitch raise which changed the tone of the piano, necessitating voicing, so I made money subsequently voicing the piano AND learned from it.  On another, the (very accomplished) pianist heard the hammer EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY nicking the adjacent higher note's right string when the shift pedal was engaged, and I realigned the hammer.  I couldn't quite hear it in normal tuning or checking, but she did.  Anecdotes will abound on this list. Your lady MAY actually have heard something or may be just befuddled with the new sound of a well-tuned piano.  I don't know.  I think your attitude has been a good one and you've earned your money.  Deposit your check and scratch your head --- but don't tune for her anymore unless you just relish the challenge. Respectfully, John Dorr, RPT Helena, MT </blockquote> </body> </html>