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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: Duaner]
#2787656
12/04/18 07:59 AM
12/04/18 07:59 AM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 308 Omaha, NE
adamp88
Full Member
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Full Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 308
Omaha, NE
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Those are the kinds of clients I am somehow all booked up and unable to find time for in the future.
Adam Schulte-Bukowinski, RPT Piano Technician, University of Nebraska-Lincoln ASB Piano Service
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: That Guy]
#2787687
12/04/18 09:50 AM
12/04/18 09:50 AM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 308 Omaha, NE
adamp88
Full Member
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Full Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 308
Omaha, NE
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DI think if she contacts me again a I'll give her Adams name... I have the convenient excuse of being tied up with university work now, Scott. 
Adam Schulte-Bukowinski, RPT Piano Technician, University of Nebraska-Lincoln ASB Piano Service
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: Duaner]
#2787709
12/04/18 11:03 AM
12/04/18 11:03 AM
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Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 7 Hampshire UK
N W
Junior Member
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Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 7
Hampshire UK
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I had a colleague (no longer alive sadly), who had one or two customers who always found something wrong. He decided to leave one unison out deliberately. The customer would hear it, of course, he would correct it and everyone was happy. I never dared try it but it might work for you.....:) Nick
Nick, ageing piano technician
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: Duaner]
#2787746
12/04/18 01:06 PM
12/04/18 01:06 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,903 Bradford County, PA
UnrightTooner
5000 Post Club Member
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5000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,903
Bradford County, PA
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I've had some that were picky and usually can find the odd problem that bothers them, but not always. Never had a rude customer, though. But having worked on merchant ships, as long as someone doesn't pull a knife, I may not see them as being rude. I have decided that if I can't please a customer, I will just refund their money. Someday it may happen.
Jeff Deutschle Part-Time Tuner Who taught the first chicken how to peck?
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: N W]
#2787832
12/04/18 05:19 PM
12/04/18 05:19 PM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 535 Rockville, MD
Seeker
500 Post Club Member
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500 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 535
Rockville, MD
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I had a colleague (no longer alive sadly), who had one or two customers who always found something wrong. He decided to leave one unison out deliberately. The customer would hear it, of course, he would correct it and everyone was happy. I never dared try it but it might work for you.....:) Nick Brilliant! The picky customer gets to nitpick; you easily solve the problem; she feels good; you feel good; ...and smile all the way to the bank (or however it takes to get the funds through Venmo or whatever).
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: UnrightTooner]
#2787971
12/05/18 06:45 AM
12/05/18 06:45 AM
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Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 89 Minto
Duaner
OP
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OP
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Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 89
Minto
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I've had some that were picky and usually can find the odd problem that bothers them, but not always. Never had a rude customer, though. But having worked on merchant ships, as long as someone doesn't pull a knife, I may not see them as being rude. I have decided that if I can't please a customer, I will just refund their money. Someday it may happen. ....good answer....look for a knife....sometimes the knife is just in back of the lips and teeth.....and it's just as sharp.....
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: That Guy]
#2787998
12/05/18 08:58 AM
12/05/18 08:58 AM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,903 Bradford County, PA
UnrightTooner
5000 Post Club Member
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5000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,903
Bradford County, PA
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But having worked on merchant ships, as long as someone doesn't pull a knife, I may not see them as being rude. Yikes!! Now THAT puts things in perspective...  One time a shipmate was trying to intimidate me. I pulled out my knife, but not to use it on him. I was offering it to him, to use on me. It was a "put up or shut up" gesture. He quickly backed down. Then there was an incident that eventually led to a ride in a Brazilian paddy-wagon with army guards and assault rifles... But this is all pretty tame stuff compared to dealing with irate tuning customers! 
Jeff Deutschle Part-Time Tuner Who taught the first chicken how to peck?
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: Duaner]
#2788244
12/05/18 10:29 PM
12/05/18 10:29 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,831 USA
Bob
4000 Post Club Member
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4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,831
USA
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Fonzi - funny! I've found that a picky client will usually check the piano carefully the first time I tune it, and never bother again. Then again, the most important part of tuning is that last pass, checking unisons, 10ths, 17ths, chords, etc. The last pass is supposed to catch any errors before the client does. Omit the last pass, and you haven't done a good job tuning.
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: Duaner]
#2788399
12/06/18 01:14 PM
12/06/18 01:14 PM
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,828 Tennessee
Ed Foote
1000 Post Club Member
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1000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,828
Tennessee
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Greetings, Those of us that are self-employed have as few of these customers as we can afford. Good, solid, constructive critique,("I think the bass is stretched more than I like"), is critical to our improving our skills, but there is a certain type of customer that has extrinsic reasons for complaint. It may be that that is the only way of approaching the world that they know, nothing can be perfect. It may be that they fear other's impression that they are not "discerning" if they don't, with "their" ear, catch something that the piano tuner, with "his" ear, overlooked. "Hah! Look at me: I am so good that I can out-hear a piano tuner !". Some customers need to be clearly in charge and you are to do whatever they say to do, which just might be something invented for the purpose of showing their dominance. . It happens.
Rudeness? That is a deal breaker for me. Payment for a tuning can't come close to the negative value of a dreadful appointment. My hope is I can reach the end of my career without ever having taken money from someone that was unhappy with my work. It has happened three times in 40 years, and I deserved two of them. I have handed a check back to a customer and apologized for wasting their time, and the relief I felt in the car was worth more than the money. This approach also helps keep the clientele "clean" of ugliness. The long range, pleasant plan is to have only customers I look forward to seeing, so quality can't be compromised for quantity any more than I can help it.
Back to my first sentence: when I started, I had to tune anything that didn't move just to have enough money (tunings=$ 9.00 at dealers, $ 14 in field) to live on. Rudeness was a minor annoyance and during the height of the cocaine use around Music Row in the 1980's, there was a lot of it going around with all that money. Had two kids to feed, had to put up with it. As experience, prices, and age increased, I have been able to gradually shape my clientele, and have reached the zero tolerance for rudeness. If I smell it over the phone, I can be pretty nimble on my feet and let them go on by. Regards,
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Re: Rude Customers
[Re: Duaner]
#2788533
12/06/18 10:02 PM
12/06/18 10:02 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,831 USA
Bob
4000 Post Club Member
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4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,831
USA
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Yep, those clients that send up red flags over the phone...……..I usually make note of any client weirdness during the initial phone contact so I'm prepared and my client list is full of notes on all kinds of things. that help me deal with the client.
I always note if they are price sensitive. Tactful handling of price issues can be a win win.
We have all had those clients that seem impossible to please.
A Russian lady comes to mind. She plays at a concert level, but has a Wurlitzer spinet. She demanded I make time to tune her piano that day. (1st red flag). I get there, after tuning 4 pianos prior, and she says the piano isn't at her pitch. I check - it's right at A=440. She claims perfect pitch and wants me to try a bit flatter, so I set a temperament flatter, then a bit sharper, so I set a temperament sharper. After 10 minutes of this, she finally decides A=440 is best. I wanted to walk out, and I should have, but I stayed. So I tuned the piano, and she doesn't like it. The piano has voicing issues, and many false beats and overtones. I told her she has a starter piano, and that's what they sound like. She said pianos in Russia sound better. After tweaking a few notes, I gave her a small discount and got out of there, never to return. Glad that kind of thing happens a few times in a career.
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