Pianotech

$4/gallon? I'm going to drive over there to fill up! We're at $5.15 in Oregon. I've raised my mileage rate. I don't charge for a 10-mile radius, but I'm thinking of changing that too. I used to have a zone rate-this much for this city, etc. but distances within cities can vary widely.

Perception of fees is an interesting topic not only because it varies so much but because most of the time we probably never really know what people are thinking. They're generally too polite to say one way or another. 

I had a guy come to fix my rattling screen door-he charged $115 just to show up. Plus more to "fix it," which he didn't really do. I just smiled and forked it over, but made a mental note not to call him again. I suspect most people are like that.

I'll bet many pianos get trapped in a continuous pitch raise/poor regulation condition: the owner gets it tuned infrequently, each time getting a price shock as fees rise. Then another decade goes by. Repeat.

if someone were to complain about a basic tuning fee (they haven't), that actually makes my life easier because I won't chase them down next year. Reminder card and postage stamp saved.

Not to mention increased electricity bills due to charging it at your house, as well as the actual cost of the charging system. I'm sure I'm some cases this is included with the EV, but I know in many cases it's not. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

Richard,

I did a cost / benefit analysis of getting a hybrid vehicle a year and a half ago. Calculating how much gas I used with gas prices at $4.50 a gallon (I lived in California at the time, now that's the nationwide average price I believe), and assuming everything else was about the same between the regular sedan and the hybrid (year, mileage, etc.), I found that the additional cost of the hybrid would take me about 7-8 years to recoup in fuel savings. It was a really nice thought, especially considering how much I drive, but it just wasn't worth it for me. 

Additionally, depending on where you live, repairs may cost more as well. Not every mechanic can fix a hybrid. Maybe in the future the technology will be cheap enough for it to be worth it for me to make the switch. 

I used to charge a travel fee, but for years it's just been worked into my price. I typically raise my price once a year, usually by the amount of inflation, rounded up to the next highest $5. (Charging $xx3.68 for a service call is just weird.) This past year I raised my rates significantly more than the 8% of inflation from last year. My reasoning was, the same economic factors and policies that caused an 8% jump in inflation are still in effect now, so I can reasonably expect more inflation this year. Turned out to be accurate. 

Not to criticize anyone in particular, but I don't understand the wait-five-years-to-raise-my-rates thing. The way I see it, if one doesn't raise their rates by the amount of inflation each year, one is taking a pay cut by that same amount - every year. Personally, I like being able to buy the same amount of groceries this year as last year. 

I've only had one person complain, despite my telling him what the price would be over the phone. When I mentioned the cost of groceries and gas (and overall inflation), he acknowledged that those were real things and that I had to make a living too. I'm not sure if he'll call back or not. 

I used to charge a travel fee, but for years it's just been worked into my price. I typically raise my price once a year, usually by the amount of inflation, rounded up to the next highest $5. (Charging $xx3.68 for a service call is just weird.) This past year I raised my rates significantly more than the 8% of inflation from last year. My reasoning was, the same economic factors and policies that caused an 8% jump in inflation are still in effect now, so I can reasonably expect more inflation this year. Turned out to be accurate. 

Not to criticize anyone in particular, but I don't understand the wait-five-years-to-raise-my-rates thing. The way I see it, if one doesn't raise their rates by the amount of inflation each year, one is taking a pay cut by that same amount - every year. Personally, I like being able to buy the same amount of groceries this year as last year. 

I've only had one person complain, despite my telling him what the price would be over the phone. When I mentioned the cost of groceries and gas (and overall inflation), he acknowledged that those were real things and that I had to make a living too. I'm not sure if he'll call back or not.