<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Doug, I have never told anyone I wouldn't return for health reasons, but there have been other reasons.  I try to be as tactful as I can, while still giving specifics they can understand.  Sometimes I paint myself as the culprit.  "It might be best if you called another tuner.  After I was here the last time I found I was very sensitive to the smoke and dog smell and actually got sick.  And the top of the piano really should be cleaned off by the client before the tuner arrives.  If there is a way to take care of these things, then I'm willing to give it another try." If you keep the client, at least the environment will be better than before.  If during the next tuning it is still a problem, when she calls again just tell her so and say, "I'm sorry, but you'll need to call someone else."  If you lose the client, you'll be happy you don't have to go back, and things may be better for the next technician because you told the client things she may not have even realized.  And you were a gentleman through the whole thing. Regards, Clyde Hollinger <blockquote TYPE=CITE>To tell you the truth, I didn't really take a close inspection of these things I just wanted out of the house as fast as I could.  The customer met me at the door with a cigarette going and she had three dogs inside.  Besides the cig. smoke, the place smelled like a kennel.  The piano was filthy, so after three hours of cleaning and tuning with the customer sitting behind me smoking constantly, a had a raging sinus infection with a headache.  My sinus' still aren't right after 5 days. ... when this customer calls me back for the next tuning, I'm contemplating saying that do to health reasons I can't work in the environment of their home.Anybody ever do this before? Comments and suggestion are deeply appreciated. Sincerely sniffling, Doug Mahard, Associate</blockquote> </body> </html>