<html>  <head><style type='text/css'> p { margin: 0px; } </style></head> <body>  Ron,   As one who has hade a rash of no shows this last summer, I know what a tough position it puts us in. I already told a client who had an obvious disregard for the value of my time to find another tuner. Others I don't call back and wait to see how long it takes for them to finally contact me.    I would consider telling them that there is a missed appointment fee of half what you charge and make it sound like it is the dealer who is getting the money.   Rick Ucci/Ucci Piano <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message from Ron Nossaman <RNOSSAMAN@COX.NET>: -------------- > > >I am more frustrated with customers than I am with the dealers. I usually > >charge the dealer something if my appointment goes into overtime, but I > >always give them a good deal. I have good relationships with them, and it > >has paid off. Lack of customer loyalty is my gripe here. MOst of the > >people who do the "free" tunings here do little more than that, and often > >don't even do a necessary pitch adjustment. I have always tried to make > >sure the customer is well taken care of, and as Mr. Bullock said, it is > >usually not recognized. > > > >Thanks for the input, > > > >Dave S. > > Dave, > At the risk of aggravating the situation, I'd like to offer an observation. > I really - REALLY - dislike the concept and use of the term "free" tuning. > The implication (because of the word "free"), and resulting practice, is > that since it is "free" there's no penalty for being unavailable at the > time of the appointment. The assumption being that the tuner is paid by the > dealer whether he does any work or not (as is apparently the case in the > situation between the customer and their employer), and nobody pays a > penalty for a no-show. Far and away, the worst record for folks standing me > up on a scheduled appointment are for dealer tunings. That leaves me in a > position to decide who eats the income loss. By all that's right and > proper, it ought to be the twit customer who couldn't be bothered to meet > their commitment to someone else's time and livelihood, but they don't see > it that way because the tuning was "free". The dealer, rightfully, > shouldn't be liable for the service call for obvious reasons, nor is he > going to be amused if I monetarily penalize the twit customer for wasting > my means of eating. So I get a choice. I either offend the dealer, offend > the customer and the dealer, or take my shafting quietly without raising a > disturbance. I'll get the shafting in any case, but I get the luxury of > determining what sort of disturbance I'll cause en-route. A dubious benefit > at best... > > Ron N > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives </BLOCKQUOTE>  </body> </html>