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<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>
<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> 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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