<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yeah, it is best if nobody sees = you.  The owner of the "wrong" house was down the street and saw me.  As I = walked out of her house and across the driveway, she drove up and tried to hit me = with her car!  (I'm glad she didn't have a gun!)  I thought about = her reaction and came to the conclusion that she was probably horrified = because her house was an absolute pit and she mistook me for Martha = Stewart.   :-)  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Not long after that I was attacked = by a gander while making my way from my car to a farmhouse.  That was just = after one of those articles came out about piano tuning being one of the most stress = free jobs.........</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>still watching out for those "killer" octaves</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>somewhere near Peoria, = IL</FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>".....first clue that I was in the wrong place = was that there was no piano!"</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Is that anything like (for a = male) walking into a restroom in an unfamiliar public facility and not seeing any = urinals? (Then hoping nobody is outside the door as you run quickly back out = the door of the ladies restroom!)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr 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=piano57@flash.net = href="mailto:piano57@flash.net">Barbara Richmond</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, November 02, = 2003 7:55 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Irate = Customer</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You tuned for a private customer = today, Sunday?  Like wow, man.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Your suggested appropriate response = seems reasonable.  Don't worry about those "distinct tones."  Be = calm, explain it as best you can and be firm.  Good luck!  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I made it a rule that the customer = (or the pianist, if it wasn't a kid) always had to be around to = let me in for the first appointment so we could check the piano out together = before I started working.  Although your situation isn't exactly how and = why I first learned this, I've found after time it's still a good = rule for a number of reasons, including----one day I walked into the wrong = unlocked house (small town, no house numbers, and even though you don't live = there, the customer assumes you know all the landmarks in town, = etc.).   I won't go into details here......but my first clue that I was = in the wrong place was that there was no piano!    :-)  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Another embarrassing moment (oh, = that would be lesson learned) in the life of...</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>what address was that?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>somewhere near Peoria, = IL</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</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> Sunday, November 02, = 2003 5:07 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Irate = Customer</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial size=3>Hello PianoList = folks. I'm looking for any suggestions to sooth an irate customer - she just = called and left a message - I'll have to get back to her soon.</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I tuned a Yamaha GH1 today (so-so = condition). New customer "graduate of Puerto Rico Conservatory". I = sat down on bench & hit first key - BUZZZZZZZZZZZ. Found a half-dozen = keys that made a nasty soundboard buzz. Found a rib I could press on = while striking key that stopped the buzz. Lady was not home so I called = hubby over to ask if wife had complained about buzz. He said he = heard it when I demonstrated it, but she had not mentioned it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>So she just calls now and said she = played her piano. She is not happy at all. She said there were one or = two keys that made a little buzz previously, but now about 20 notes make a = big buzz and she is in tears.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I had told the hubby when I was there = earlier that if the buzzing bothered her, there were some repairs that we could = try to get rid of the buzzing. He said he would mention it to her. It = would seem to me that the appropriate response from me is to offer to make an = appointment to come and repair her loose rib and charge her a = normal fee for doing so. Her message has the distinct tone of "my piano was = fine <STRONG><U><EM>before YOU</EM></U></STRONG> touched = it".</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Any thoughts before I step into the fire? Thanks.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>=