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| How much to pay my piano tuner — re gas prices | Login/Join |
| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity  |
My piano tuner is coming on Monday (yay!) He has a bit of a drive to get here, I’m not sure exactly where he lives but price of gas is a concern. Let’s say he has an hour drive to get here. Would adding $10 to the amount I pay be reasonable? Insufficient? $20? Regarding tipping, I have never tipped for tuning, on the assumption that the tuners are their own bosses and set their own wages etc. So I’m planning to let him know I added some for the gas.
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| Foregoing Practicing to Post Minor Deity  |
I think they incorporate their expenses into their pricing.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
$20 | |||
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| Shut up and play your guitar! Minor Deity  |
30mpg 60 miles one way is 2 gallons at $5 per gallon. $20 sounds about right. | |||
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity |
Thanks everyone.
RP, the last time he tuned for me (last Nov I think) he let me know that he sets his prices annually and would be raising his price by $10 in 2022. When this appointment was set, he didn’t say anything about a change in the fee, so if I suspect he’s still using that price, in which case, the extra $$ will probably be needed. I’ll go with $20, unless he did change his price accordingly.
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Beatification Candidate |
This has been going around the tech forums a bit... Most have decided not to add any surge pricing due to gas, while others have an additional charge based on mileage already built in to their pricing. Some raise rates every year, others wait a few years and then do a bigger bump. I don't expect tips or extra due to gas or parking costs, but always appreciate something!
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity |
 There are so few good tuners around here, I definitely want him to know he’s appreciated!!
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| knitterati Beatification Candidate  |
My tuner comes by bicycle!
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity |
How cool is that!
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| czarina Has Achieved Nirvana  |
in NYC there was a lounge pianist who got around by bicycle, carrying his own piano bench with him. Heard about him from Carl Demler.
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| Foregoing Practicing to Post Minor Deity |
I know a tech who comes by tricycle. So there!  Seriously. I don't remember if I mentioned this guy here before. He is also quite a character. An ardent lefty, he used to organize sending pianos to Cuba (“Send a Piana to Havana”) and then sent technicians there (“The Tuners’ Brigade”) to service them. There’s a documentary somewhere on the internet about it. In New York he called his business the Underwater Piano Shoppe. He always had a piano to loan to a pianist who needed one. He now lives in Scotland (I think). His name is Ben Treuhaft. He is the son of author Jessica Mitford. He tuned my piano on both the East and west coasts, as we happened to move around.
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| czarina Has Achieved Nirvana |
Jessica Mitford was a revered journalist. Her "Poison Penmanship" was required reading in grad school. Her son sounds like a very interesting character. I vaguely remember there was a guy who had some kind of piano workshop in a basement somewhere in lower Manhattan. I wonder if it was the same guy?
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| Foregoing Practicing to Post Minor Deity |
He could well be. The shop was on the lower east side. I know he also did outside work, for example, servicing pianos at the NYU music department.
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well-temperedforum.groupee.net The Well-Tempered Forum Off Key How much to pay my piano tuner — re gas prices