Piano Tuning Discounts

Many times, I get asked if I can give a discount on a piano I have never seen before. Let me give you some examples of piano tunings that I have given discounts on.
1. One customer informed me that they had the piano tuned within the last 2 years. When I got to the residence, I had trouble trying to get the keys to play - most of them were stuck. I removed some case parts so I could get a good look inside.
There were hundreds of dead cockroaches 'glued' to the keybed and in between the keys. After ONE HOUR of removing the dead insects and lubricating the action, I tuned the piano. *Remember, I gave a discount on this job and it should have cost much more than my normal fee. How the previous tuner was able to tune this piano is a complete mystery to me.
2. Another customer just wanted the piano tuned. When I removed the case parts and the keys, I noticed an old mouse nest in the middle of the keybed. I removed all the keys, vacuumed out the action, and then tuned the piano much later than I originally intended.
3. A customer only wanted one wire replaced. Although the service call fee wouldn't cover me driving 30 miles away, I decided to go anyway. The client had already paid someone else to tune the piano (that tuner couldn't replace wires). Inspecting the piano before deciding to put on the wire, I told them that the piano had severe structural problems and that it needed to be repaired and shouldn't have been tuned in the first place!
Nine times out of ten, there's always about 1/2 hour of extra work to do. Sticking notes, hammers that are not hitting the strings, damping problems, squeaking pedals, squeaking benches, squeaking keys, buzzing sounds, loose screws, actions that are out of regulation, etc, etc,.
Think of it this way. When you buy a car, do you just put gas in it and leave everything else alone, or do you constantly have it looked after by a mechanic? A piano deserves exactly the same attention to function properly.
I generally give small discounts to customers whose pianos I HAVE TUNED PREVIOUSLY if tuned again in the SAME YEAR.



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