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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Oh, gosh, Dave, thick skin is some =
times
required. There are a number of ways to HELP avoid this type of =
thing in
the future.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When making the appointment, get all =
the
information you can about the piano and it's service history. Ask, =
brand,
model, age, last time it was tuned, service history, any mechanical =
complaints,
etc. Then educate the customer by giving the spiel, "Did you know =
that
manufacturers recommend that pianos be tuned twice a year?." "It =
is quite
possible that I will have to do a pitch correction in addition to a =
tuning,
etc...." Explain the work that will have to be done and the =
expected
charges and that it is also quite possible that it might take a few =
service
calls to get the piano stable. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's really important to get this =
information to
them right at the start. I usually end up with the comment, =
"Though it
will cost more this time, at least you are not having to pay for all the =
tunings
it's missed!" </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As far as how to handle the current =
situation, it's
your choice:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1. Do nothing, risking whatever. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2. Go out and please him and keep him =
as a customer
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3. Go out and please him and never make =
another
appointment with him again. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've made it a policy to dump rude and =
troublesome
customers. You don't HAVE to tune everybody's piano (unless you're =
really
hard up for the cash.) Peace of mind in worth something, =
too!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Many years ago, a fellow asked me =
to come tune
his small grand piano. When I got there a section of the =
treble
bridge was in a shambles (and you could hear it!). I showed him =
the
problem and explained that repairing the bridge at that point would =
make
good sense before tuning the piano. I told him what it would cost, =
he
could pay me a $25 fee for coming out now, but then I would deduct =
the fee
from the repair bill when I finished the work. OR I could try =
to tune
the piano, but I couldn't guarantee how that would turn out. =
He opted
to have the bridge repaired, we made the appointment, he paid the =
service call
fee. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Late that night, I got a call from =
him. It
was obvious that he had been drinking. He informed me that he =
had
called all the other piano tuners in town (some of which didn't care for =
me
because I was a young female upstart, who had gone to, of all things, a =
piano
technicians school), and they told him I was way out of line, he was =
canceling
payment on the check and I could take him to small claims court if I
wanted. Also, he was a newspaper reporter and threatened to write =
about me
(he never did) and it didn't reflect very well on the music store that =
had
recommended me. Ah, me. I did nothing, but informed the music =
store
of the trouble. (I'll admit I was very tempted to go up to his =
door, ring
the doorbell and run.) I thought it was better to let one of those =
other
piano tuners deal with this guy!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Speaking of being in a dazed state, I =
was once
awakened from a nap by a call and the first question asked was, "How =
much does
it cost to fix two loose knockers?" It was a good thing I was
sleepy! :-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Barbara Richmond, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>at home with a sick child</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>somewhere near Peoria, IL</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Piannaman@aol.com
href="mailto:Piannaman@aol.com">Piannaman@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 21, 2003 =
9:40
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Aaargh!!...aka =
customer
relations</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>Fellow =
self-employed
types, <BR><BR>Has this or something like it happened to you? I =
had just
gotten my 3 year old to sleep last night and was about to nod off when =
my
phone rang. I glanced at the clock and it was almost 10:30. =
I
picked it up, and a man stated his name, and said that I'd been out to =
his
house last week and tuned his piano. I remembered him, and I =
remembered
his demanding nature. <BR><BR>He said that the teacher had been to his =
house
and had played the piano. She said that the bass was out of =
tune.
Now this doesn't surprise me a bit. It was a pitch raise =
of
gargantuan proportions and a tuning. 2 hours worth of work, and =
I didn't
charge him for the pitch raise, because he was a new customer. I =
did
warn him that the next time he'd pay. The piano is approximately =
5 years
old, and if had ever been tuned in his house I'd be surprised. =
Normally
when I pitch raise a piano, it's pretty stable, as long as it was =
stabilized
at one point in it's life. That was certainly not the case here. =
<BR><BR>In my dazed state, I stated that I'd come out(today) and check =
it out.
He was extremely rude, and acted as if I'd done something wrong. =
My first reaction was to make it better so that the =
customer--and his
teacher, who'd recommended me--were no longer disgruntled. I =
thought
about it for awhile, and realized that I'd done nothing wrong, and had =
indeed
given him far more than he paid for. I called him back and left =
him a
polite message to that effect on his work phone, which he should pick =
up
today. I pointed out that I'd do it for free this time, but that =
I
wasn't the one who let the piano go untuned for so long. <BR><BR>Any =
advice on
possible responses to this sort of thing? <BR><BR>This type of stuff =
really
rankles me. I guess the lesson here is to not take it too =
personally.
Kinda hard to do sometimes when you're the whole show. =
<BR><BR>Thanks
for reading. <BR><BR>Dave Stahl
<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>