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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Really Terry! hey Barbara, how's that =
sick child
somewhere near Peoria?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G (UK)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 21, 2003 6:49 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: Aaargh!!...aka customer relations</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>No, I think that's how =
Aaaaahhhhnold deals
with them. Oops, I mean Gaaaahhhvenaaah Aaaahhhhnold.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV>
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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=michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk
href="mailto:michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk">Michael Gamble</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 =
1:04
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Fw: Aaargh!!...aka =
customer
relations</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Knockers? You simply twist =
them...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G (UK)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=cmpiano@comcast.net href="mailto:cmpiano@comcast.net">Carl =
Meyer</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 21, 2003 5:46 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: Aaargh!!...aka customer relations</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, Barbara, how do you tighten two =
loose
knockers?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Carl Meyer Ptg assoc<BR>Santa Clara,
Ca.</FONT></DIV>
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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> Tuesday, October 21, =
2003 8:49
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Aaargh!!...aka =
customer
relations</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<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
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