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<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></BODY></HTML>