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<DIV><SPAN class=921471916-14022004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2>With
gas prices nearly doubling in the last few years, it now takes $35. to =
fill my
tank. Since I live in the center of the Metropolitan area, I use =
the
interstate loop around the city as my boundary, about 15 miles from =
here.
Inside that the tuning is normal price ($75) and outside of that beltway =
is a
$10.00 travel fee added. If I go farther than 30 miles as I do for =
pipe
organ tunings 100+ miles away, I charge $10-$20. per hour of =
travel. If I
stay overnight, then expenses are added and billed to the =
instrument. If
there are 5 customers at the end of my trek then the travel fees and =
expenses
are split 5 ways. I know $75 is cheap for tuning to some, but that =
is high
for this area. I get to avoid most of the crappy spinet tunings at =
that
level. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=921471916-14022004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=921471916-14022004>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>D.L. Bullock St. =
Louis</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.thepianoworld.com/">www.thepianoworld.com</A></FONT></=
DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT =
face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Phil Bondi
[mailto:phil@philbondi.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, February 14, =
2004 6:08
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech<BR><B>Subject:</B> Trip Charges - when to =
apply and
why<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT color=#000080><FONT face=Tahoma
DEFAULT="FACE"><FONT size=1 DEFAULT="SIZE" POINTSIZE="9">Hello =
to
all.<BR><BR>I am going to open a dialogue regarding trip charges. I =
have
personally been avoiding this charge since day one, and I am starting =
to think
that this type of charge needs to be applied in some cases. If you =
read on,
I'm hoping you can offer some insight.<BR><BR>-I got my break in this =
business
doing dealership work..floor tunings and warranty tunings. The =
dealership
doesn't care where they sell to, so there are times when I go a long =
ways to
do a warranty tuning(my price to the dealership recently went up for =
this
work, regardless of locale)<BR><BR>-The growth in this part of the =
country is
starting to migrate north of me - approximently 30 miles from my home =
and
beyond.<BR><BR>-I know what you're thinking: Establish a 'territory' =
when trip
charges don't apply, and go from there.<BR><BR>-For those that charge =
trip
charges, is there a set fee or does it change in regards to the =
mileage from
the home?<BR><BR>-Let's say I have 2 appts. in Tripcharge City. The =
2nd
appointment is 10 minutes away from the first appt. Do you apply a =
trip charge
for the 2nd appt.? - and is it the same as the charge to the first
appt.?<BR><BR>-Would you start to apply a trip charge to those in =
Tripcharge
City that have been customers for awhile?<BR><BR>-I tend to wrestle =
with this
kind of stuff and perhaps dwell too much on it - but I do want to be =
fair to
my clients and especially to myself.<BR><BR>I look forward to your
comments.<BR><BR><FONT color=#000000 =
DEFAULT="COLOR"><BR><LEFT><FONT
face=Tahoma color=#000001 size=1 DEFAULT="ALL"
POINTSIZE="9">Phil Bondi (FL)
</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>