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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
OCTOBER 17,
1925
Proper Service an Outstanding Factor in Reproducing Selling—(Continued from page 3)
by an interesting process. A careful check
was made of the cost of all calls both in and
outside the city over a certain period. It was
found that service in some localities in Man-
hattan could be rendered at a low figure, while
service in distant points cost as high as $120
yfrrent
Class
Name
Phone
Piano
The work of the service department is divided
into zones, and so far as possible, one man is
AMERICAN PIANO CO.,
AMPICO SIRVICB DBPT.
425
We.1 55lh Streel. New York City,
Your Service Representative adjusted my Ampico
On—
„.
....
and it is
playing to my complete satisfaction.
\
Pur Date
\
Address
Style.
Type
No.
Name
Address
Phone No.
E
m
f
Tr. D.
Pump
2 2
El. Mot.
Press.
Trans.
Air Mot.
Gov.
Exp. M.
Cres.
A. Prim.
A. Main
Rev.
Rep.
Sw. Mec.
At.CutO.
Tubing
Piano T.
Reg.
Clean
Adj.
Exp.
Time
Name
At the present time there are employed by
the service department twenty-five outside Am-
pico mechanics, most of whom are also tuners;
twelve tuners who do not rank as Ampico men
but who give their attention to straight pianos,
and three case men who, it may be explained,
Date
>
Master Card Form Record of Service Contract (3 Marks Month of Expiration)
a year. By averaging up the various costs it
do not work on contract jobs, inasmuch as
was determined that the schedule, as outlined in polishing is not included in the regular contract
the foregoing paragraph would prove equitable
service.
to the owner and the service department, and
In addition to the calls by the service man
this has proved mutually satisfactory. That
contact is kept with the customer in a number
the owners themselves appreciate the oppor-
of interesting ways. After the service call has
tunity of insuring their investment of several been made the customer receives a return post-
thousand dollars through the medium of this card, copy of which is shown herewith. On
annual service is shown by the fact that after this card the customer fills in the blank space
the first year of "free" service 75 per cent of
to indicate that the service has been rendered
to his satisfaction. This not only serves as a
KATE CARD
check-up on the service man but heads off any
For Complete Ampico and Piano Service
possible future complaint of neglect.
both
Piano
and
Ampico.
ieepin«
Service comprnea attention. At tqoft interval*, to
Plane luo*d and regulated and me Ampico m tin e condition at all tune*.
When the service man discovers that the
Suburban Rate
New York City Rate
instrument requires work that is not included
_
7.
,7
For one year from date
in the contract price, he presents to the cus-
For one year from date
*
Upri«ht $35
Grand $40
Upright $45
Grand $50
tomer a form, also reproduced, which gives
AMERICAN PIANO CO —Kindly lend your tepreientalive lo bepn .ervice
him signed permission to make the necessary
Grand Ampico • Upright Ampico • Dale
„
.
.——
Contracts payable in Sign here.
repairs at a specified cost. This, too, eliminates
advance and not
opportunities for future argument and protects
complete without our
letter of acceptance.
the repairman in the matter of making extra
charges.
Ampico Service Rate Card
Every effort is made to avoid lost motion.
them agree to renew the contract at their own
First, the customer is advised that the service
expense.
man will call on a specified day, and the man is
As each sale is made the name and address,
instructed to make that particular call and do
together with make, number and style of instru-
everything that is necessary before proceeding
ment, is reported to the service department,
with any other calls that have been handed to
which in turn transfers this information to its
him. In other words, if he is given four orders
files and the instrument is serviced imme-
"NOT
AT
HOMe.
OHRU
diately upon receipt of this notification. A
multiple service order is then issued for a com-
192
plete record of inspections as reported by the
Out representative, called to-day at
_M.
to
attend
service men. This information is also entered
to your piano, but found no one at home.
on a master card which is always kept in the
_ „...._,.__..._
.• ~~ —v...™^, «*.,.,«.-,
_
Customer's Acknowledgment of Satisfaction
kept working in a particular zone in the belief
that it is to his advantage, as well as to the
company's advantage to have him become well
acquainted with the owners for reasons that
will be pointed out later. A number of the
men, particularly those in outlying districts,
use their own automobiles in the work and re-
ceive for their cars an allowance of $3.33 a
day, this being the figure arrived at by auto-
mobile authorities to cover cost of gas, oil,
wear and depreciation.
Not Left to Chance
There is nothing left to chance in handling
service work. For instance, the department
may receive a call to repair a switch that
doesn't operate. Under the old regime the
repairman would fix the switch and go on his
way. Now he must make a thorough inspec-
tion of the instrument to see that nothing else
is amiss. It takes a little time and costs a
little money, but avoids that unsatisfactory con-
dition of having a repairman tampering with
the instrument at frequent intervals as this or
that part needs adjustment through neglect.
Likewise when on the regular service call the
mechanic is forced to make temporary repairs
of some part, that fact is noted on his report
so that when the next call is made a new part
can be installed. In the department the records
are gone over before the men are sent out and
the necessary parts are already wrapped and
American Piano Company
Sarrica Department
Consider thii, my permission for your
service man to do extra work on my piano,
the cost not to exceed $
Authorization for Extra Work
placed with the men's orders for the day, thus
avoiding unnecessary delays.
The service under contract, as referred to
previously, is not confined to the new Ampicos
that have been sold in the metropolitan district
since the service department started to function
on the present basis, but is available to all Am-
pico owners and, in fact, they are urged to take
advantage of it. However, it often happens
that instruments have been neglected, so before
He will call again u toon at possible.
Rciernng to your order for Service we are arranging to «end
our representative
Telephone
Will you kindly arrange so that he may have access to the
instrument when he calls?
Irregularity in the length of time required to do work on piano*,
somatime* so delays a man that he it unable to reach your home at the
time planned for, and we therefore aik your indulgence in u s e tfwc
•hould be any delay.
We trust this will be satisfactory.
Very truly yours,
AMPICO SERVICE DEPT.
•«25 WKST 55th STREET. N. V. C
Phonei Culumbm 5252-5253
Notification of Repairman's Call
files for a permanent record. The service is
followed at approximately two-month intervals.
A white numbered tab is used to indicate the
month of the next regular service call. When
the order is removed for the final regular
service call a red numbered tab is inserted to
indicate the expiration date, and the man is in-
structed to solicit a renewal of the service con-
tract.
KepmcntalJTe
AMERICAN PIANO CO
Not at Home Notice Left by Tuner
in the morning, one of those is a "sure date,"
and the others may be taken care of providing
that first job is completed properly. When
the forms are turned into the office by the re-
pairman there has been entered thereon every
detail of the job, whether it was tuning, regulat-
ing, or adjustment and repair of parts, together
with the time consumed. These reports are
checked carefully in a department under the
direction of a practical Ampico mechanic, who,
with his assistant, also a practical man, passes
on what has been done and how it has been
done. The service man's report is then entered
on the master card, which shows at all times
what attention the instrument has received.
Our Service Representative called at your home re-
:rntly and adjusted your Ampico We trust the Ampico
is nuw working to your complete satisfaction, and as a
herk on his efforts will you kindly sign attached card
ind return to us at the earliest possible moment
Yours respectfully.
AMKR1CAN PIANO CO.,
AMHCO SKRVICK D I P T
Mail Check-up on Instrument
the contract privilege is granted, old instru-
ments are inspected carefully and put in first-
class condition at the owner's expense before
being placed on the contract list. This obviates
the losses that would occur should the general
repairs be made under the contract price.
The outstanding feature of the system is the
close and regular contact that is kept with all
Ampico owners. Those who are not under con-