<HTML>In a message dated 12/26/02 3:18:40 PM Central Standard Time, davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Gee, I wonder what he told her?  Go figure.  No good deed goes unpunished.  I think next time I'll just find something wrong whether it's there or not. </BLOCKQUOTE> You'll never know but obviously, whatever you said was not the right thing.  I run into this a lot.  I do contract tunings for a local dealer.  His staff makes calls to customers and schedules tunings.  Many of these have humidity control systems and after I've tuned them a few times, they get to be quite stable.  I still tune them all through twice completely, sometimes thinking that it will take enough time to make the time I have been there seem reasonable.  It ends up meaning better unisons if nothing more. Finding a few extra things to improve, servicing the humidity control system fills out the 45 minutes.  But one thing I've learned never to say is that the piano didn't really need tuning or that it wasn't very much out of tune.  That is always a subjective opinion anyway. I often feel the same way when I go to the Dentist twice a year, particularly when they force me to have X-Rays taken.  In 25 years, not a single X-Ray ever revealed the need for any additional work.  I often feel that the Dentist (who is a Steinway owner and also my customer of 25 years), doesn't really like to see me because he has never yet done a single thing but look and tell me that everything looks fine.  Only the hygienist does a little work and periodically, they take those uncomfortable X-Rays!  Do I feel cheated?  No.  Would I go somewhere else just to find someone who would actually *do* something?  No. Instead, I enjoy the satisfaction of telling the stable piano customers that, yes, the piano was "due" for tuning but it has done very well under my care.  If you let them think they have paid for unnecessary service, they'll dump you! By the way, your last comment which I quoted is quite important in custmer relations as well, (see President Nolan Zeringue's recent Journal message)  You get called about something being "wrong", you find "nothing", what you do is say, "Well, let me see if I can find the trouble..." and go ahead and find something.  There is no such thing as a *perfect* piano.  If you say there is nothing wrong and leave, it's the last time you'll ever see that customer or piano. You all know me and you all know I haven't tuned in ET since mid 1989.  Of all the "complaints" I ever get, it's never about *temperament* except way back in the beginning of my use of HT's when I talked too much about them and used temperaments which were too strong for general use.  When there is a complaint about a piano going out of tune, it is almost always legitimate, the piano has really gone out of tune and I find, explain and do something about the reason for it which generally improves the relationship with the customer. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A></HTML>