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Should i charge more for tuning at night for or just standard basic rate ?

michael

It is up to you. I do not work outside of normal working hours except for shows.

Ah, the things we do for love !

(or to survive, or to build a fledgling tuning practice)

I suppose the tangents of a possible answer lie in what I have already written, but the answer does depend on some "stuff."

For example, there are times when due to family schedules and college schedules I had rather get to the music practice rooms at 6:00 A.M. on a Saturday, when no one else is there. On the other hand, if some demanding customer makes it tough to schedule them and I have already tried three times to get them tuned, then I am forced to do it at an odd time even so...

yes, I would charge them extra.

Of course, you hope for the day and the place that you can skip all the goofy stuff. Some of us make it to that far, fond land - sometimes, at least. Most of us don't and life stays a little on the tough side. Count your blessings, either way!

P.S. The best time to do a retirement center is usually 8:30 - 9:00 P.M. At least it's quiet. Take your pick: hectic, noisy or when it's all done for the day.

SURE CHARGE more if you can get it!

Reality check . ..

Do you expect to pay the same for a plumber, locksmith, auto mechanic that provides service for you beyond regular hours?

The greater question would be, do you want a customer that values your time and work so little that they would not want to pay extra for accommodation to their schedule?

Sometimes when I'm trying to schedule with a customer who has called, they say something like, "Well, I work during the day". To which I reply, "So do I". That kind of sets things in perspective. I usually go on to suggest that they will need to make the same kind of arrangements as if they were having a plumber, electrician or other service person working at their house.


If you're hungry, do what you need to do, but you are probably under-valuing your service.

If you are building a business, as I am, probably not. When you get to the point to where you're tuning four or five pianos on Monday-Friday, then absolutely. As for right now, I don't charge extra for weekends or weird hours... I actually prefer working at night, anyway.

We are all different. Anybody who ever went to school or did a factory or office job will have the 9-5 mentality out of pure habit. Some manage to transcend it. Some are naturally early risers, others are useless until noon. I gave up a very lucrative career because I ceased to be a late night person. ( i don't know that I ever really was, but I was young enough not to know or care). There was a time I avoided tuning after4 pm in the suburbs in summer because that was when most neighborhood formation lawn mowing teams were active.

Everybody is different and enjoys working the hours that suit them. Thats one of the perks of piano work. The whole universe has conspired to give me work that is tailored to my lifestyle. I work holidays and weekends freely so that my colleagues can have time with their families. My family of choice keeps hours much like mine, my family of origin is largely retired.

Whether we charge extra for working outside our comfortable hours again depends on the particular person. Some are fearless and free with their time, others are fearful and grasping. We can't make rules for each other.

From the other side of the fence - as a pianist and owner.

I would fully expect that there would be an additional charge for services outside of standard business hours.

One of the techs that I use has "barber's hours." His days off are Sun. & Mon. There is no extra charge for scheduled tunings on Saturday.

A good perspective. My suggestion remains, though.

If someone's "normal" hours are 4-11pm Tue-Sun, it would be appropriate for them to charge extra for 9am Monday. The point being that we organize our business life according to some format or plan for greatest convenience/efficiency. Providing a "non-plan" service typically represents some kind of greater effort or sacrifice that should be compensated.

Scheduled tunings?? I don't think I have ever, in almost 30 years, done any unscheduled tunings. They were all scheduled. What am I missing?

Well Jurgen,

How about someone who calls on Saturday, experiencing traumatic disintunation, and insists that the tuner come over during lunch hour. That would be un-scheduled and would command and increased fee if the tuner accepted the job.

Nope. Not me. We tilt the schedule to accomodate the 20-25 tunings weekly and if/when we need to make an evening happen (or occasionally Saturdays) we do so happily. People, in our experience, appreciate one simple price.

I don't work Sundays tuning (ever) and late evenings either...but from the 9am to 9pm timeframe we have a simple single price strategy and it seems to be working to keep everybody happy.

PS We DO charge more for last minute work that is event centered and requires either travel outside our area OR extra hours to complete...of course...

FWIW

RPD

If the client call in the morning and says: "Please come at noon to such and such an address", and I say yes, then it is a scheduled appointment, albeit an appointment scheduled at short notice. The moment I write down a name, address and phone # in my day-timer, I have scheduled an appointment.

An unscheduled tuning would be if I show up unannounced. I suppose this could happen, if for example an institution asks me to drop by some time in the next few weeks to tune. But even then I would always ask for a specific time to make sure I have access to the room and quiet for my work. I can't speak for others, but I don't do "unscheduled" service calls, and I don't know of anyone who does.

One of the best things in this business is you can set your own hours, and you can set your own rates. Some techs charge more for odd hours, but I think most charge the same amount, especially if the evening appointments are scheduled in advance, and on route with other tunings.

Where extra costs are incurred, I would imagine an extra charge is warranted. An out of town emergency tuning would be charged extra by most, I would think.... A tuning 100 miles round trip should be charged higher than one in town. A higher cost demands a higher fee.

This is a service business which means you have to be available when clients are. If that means Saturdays, Sundays, 5am, or 7pm, that's what you do - or you miss out on work.

I always make up for odd hours with extra days off. It's the best part of this business.

Here is the thing about that. I have been exposed to this business since I was about 7 years old. I think I have the same attitude as many other people who grew up in a family business like some of my childhood friends who grew up in the food or produce business'

There is a very fine line between building a good reputable business and just flat out being taken advantage of. You need to set hours to stick to and perhaps do something like Vetrenarians do with an after hours emergency call.

If you just work 20 hour days then you will be expected to do that 7 days a week until it has consumed your life. This past January while others were making new years resolutions to lose weight or never eat another piece of white bread I made one to not be taken advantage of this year.

It may seem like a brash decision or sound cold but if you enjoy the work then you want to continue to enjoy it not get burned out. Set hours of operation and stick to it. You will thank yourself later.

Absolutely bang on!