As a gift, we hired Doug to tune the piano of a relative. The piano had been moved to a new residence over a decade ago, and hadn't been tuned since. It sounded 'off' and we knew it was time to have this addressed.
I contacted Doug via email giving him specifics on location and piano type and asking for a 'ball park' cost to tune. He replied about an hour later to let me know the usual price to tune is one hundred seventy five dollars, and informed me that if a piano has not been tuned in a very long time, it may require a second tuning to get back into proper pitch. He also made clear if it were in need of repair that would be an additional cost.
Prior to tuning, he does an inspection of the instrument to determine the state of hammers, strings and so on after which he is able to give an accurate quote. He also let me know the fee for this inspection and his time is ninety five dollars should we decide at that time to not move forward with the tuning. If we did move forward, the cost of the inspection is included with the tuning fee.
We scheduled a time to meet him at our relatives home. He called about a quarter hour before the planned appointment time to let us know he was a little behind schedule, and arrived about 30 minutes later. He was professionally dressed, carrying his tools, wearing a mask. After quick introductions, he headed straight to the piano.
There were many questions asked, and he answered them all and seemed to enjoy the conversation. During the inspection he found the piano be 1/2 pitch out of tune and would need to be tuned twice. The first time to correct the pitch and 2 - 3 weeks later, a second tuning to assure accuracy of pitch.
During the tuning process, one of the base strings broke. He let us know the cost of a new string is fifty dollars and the cost of installation is seventy five. We ordered a new string through him and he let us know once the string was manufactured and in his hands he would contact us to schedule the install and second tuning. The entire process took about one hour. As he came to us, the round trip, plus work done, was around 3 hours of his time. Playing the piano after that first tuning was a huge improvement.
After about six weeks of not hearing from Doug, I sent him an email asking if the new string was in hand, would he please give a call when convenient to schedule the install. He responded within 4 hours (on New Years Day) and called next day to schedule. We were not present during the installation and second tuning, but all went well.
Our relative plays for pleasure, not a professional and although the cost to tune a piano twice and install a new string was costly, we feel it is worth the expense. Especially during this time of pandemic, creating moments to enjoy yourself is high on the list of priorities. Doug is a professional businessman, knowledgeable about his chosen career and we are satisfied with his services as rendered. read more
