I may be "doing it wrong" (if there is a better subforum for this). And my intention's not to be controversial, or stir up controversy.
I was inspired to do this because I just got a call from a dad with a son he wanted to bring in to shop for a saxophone. The order of topics upon answering the phone:
- He wants to bring his son in to buy a saxophone
- He will be driving 2.5 hours to get to Santa Cruz
- Am I open for business today?
- Do I have saxophones ready for sale to him?
This was all upon my answering, before my saying anything but, "Hello, Just Saxes."
The rest of the call was unpleasant, because I'm practicing max precautions as I see fit, and he's doing the opposite (as he sees fit). Thinking about it afterward made me think to post a thread like this, in the interest of sharing information that I wish he had seen, in some way, before calling me.
Like most of CA, save the places that are opening up as normally "with distancing," I'm open for "curbside service."
What that means:
- I'm open, but not for appointments. No one is in my shop except me. Ever. Not even family. No appointments, no repair-while-you-wait-and-chat. *Why?* I have clients of all ages, quite a few over age 65, and I want them both to know that their risk is reduced to the absolute minimum that I can reduce it to, by having only myself in my shop. No other person -- no one -- is allowed in my shop at any time, until there are reliable treatments for the virus and/or a reliable vaccine. I am fortunate to have, at my shop, relatively low foot traffic in the area and a very good spot, outside the shop, for "distanced" payment and hand-off of purchases. Since I have that, I don't see a reason to increase risk to myself -- or from myself to others -- as it just isn't necessary. Purchases can be completed outdoors, where transmission risk is lower than indoors, without any practical differences except for things seeming different from normal when the changes are only that: 1) no playtesting before purchase is happening, and 2) there isn't the *feeling* of being welcomed into a personal/aesthetic space that is normally part of the experience of shopping. I would rather visit, and warmly, but the impetus to eliminate unnecessary risks outweighs that, to me. Both in-person and mail-order customers benefit from this precaution, whether they desire it or not.
- I would rather everybody playtest on the spot, in front of me. There are multiple reasons for that. It isn't practical right now, for some of the reasons above and some that are known but probably pointless to discuss. The more important detail, possibly of use to others: what I'm doing, to make up for the lack of an opportunity to playtest is allowing for a more liberal return window than normal. Normal is 14 days from receipt if purchasing by mail. It is more liberal than that, right now. I don't want to get into the details, because I don't want to open myself up to abuse via this policy, but the same applies to in-person purchases. There is always a return window, it's just different now from normal to account for lacking the opportunity, mutually, for in-person playtesting at the shop.
- I'm taking repair work, but it sits for 9 days before I touch it. The hand-off happens "curbside," and I take the horn directly to a storage that only I access, where it sits for 9 days, untouched, before I bring it back to the shop and open the case. SARS was known to live up to 29 days on stainless steel under idea laboratory conditions. The general advisements from CDC and WHO seem to be that 9 days is sort of a conservative, safe estimate for longer survival times on stainless steel and plastic for Covid-19. I will *have* to play the horn when I work on it. Normally, I can sometimes leave the work as technical only (unplayed during or after working) if the player will be picking up in person and playtesting before leaving the shop. Since that latter is impossible with current precautions, it is impossible for me not to play before considering any job finished. I represent a potential threat to every customer, never mind every person I contact, as I increase my potential exposure. To limit it by not taking chances on transfer seems an obvious consideration, to me. So that is the policy: 9 days before I work on anything, minimum, after receiving it, and nothing even enters my shop from outside without this quarantining in the storage space before it does.
- After I complete work, I do two things that are not normally (but probably should have been) part of the final work on every horn: 1) wash the nedk's interior and exterior with dishsoap and water, 2) run hot air both over the outside of the body and through the interior of the body after it has had time to dry out. I mask up and wear gloves, hands sanitized before putting the gloves on (yes, while alone in the shop) before this. The finished horn in the case goes into a cardboard box and is sealed, and that is what's handed off when the customer comes to pick up. The client has the option of having me hold the horn in that condition -- boxed -- for up to 14 days if they like. That is so that the horn has time to "self-sanitize" in the box with minimal exposure to "droplets," and time for any cooties that may be on the horn to die. As most probably know, the recommended wait time for cardboard is about 24 hours. That is why I box all jobs, now, i.e. that after the 24 hours, with all this info on hand, the customer can make her/his own choice about how long to wait before opening the case.
That's not everything, but it's most of it.
I'm not trying to tell people what to do, or trying to start a big argument about what is or isn't a reasonable policy. Just sharing what I'm doing in case it's of use, and in case that father should need a detailed explanation. I found the call annoying and aggravating enough that I don't want to call that person back and explain because I'm quite certain he's not interested in hearing it.
This is just what I'm doing, and is shared in the interest of being useful in this nutjob time.
I was inspired to do this because I just got a call from a dad with a son he wanted to bring in to shop for a saxophone. The order of topics upon answering the phone:
- He wants to bring his son in to buy a saxophone
- He will be driving 2.5 hours to get to Santa Cruz
- Am I open for business today?
- Do I have saxophones ready for sale to him?
This was all upon my answering, before my saying anything but, "Hello, Just Saxes."
The rest of the call was unpleasant, because I'm practicing max precautions as I see fit, and he's doing the opposite (as he sees fit). Thinking about it afterward made me think to post a thread like this, in the interest of sharing information that I wish he had seen, in some way, before calling me.
Like most of CA, save the places that are opening up as normally "with distancing," I'm open for "curbside service."
What that means:
- I'm open, but not for appointments. No one is in my shop except me. Ever. Not even family. No appointments, no repair-while-you-wait-and-chat. *Why?* I have clients of all ages, quite a few over age 65, and I want them both to know that their risk is reduced to the absolute minimum that I can reduce it to, by having only myself in my shop. No other person -- no one -- is allowed in my shop at any time, until there are reliable treatments for the virus and/or a reliable vaccine. I am fortunate to have, at my shop, relatively low foot traffic in the area and a very good spot, outside the shop, for "distanced" payment and hand-off of purchases. Since I have that, I don't see a reason to increase risk to myself -- or from myself to others -- as it just isn't necessary. Purchases can be completed outdoors, where transmission risk is lower than indoors, without any practical differences except for things seeming different from normal when the changes are only that: 1) no playtesting before purchase is happening, and 2) there isn't the *feeling* of being welcomed into a personal/aesthetic space that is normally part of the experience of shopping. I would rather visit, and warmly, but the impetus to eliminate unnecessary risks outweighs that, to me. Both in-person and mail-order customers benefit from this precaution, whether they desire it or not.
- I would rather everybody playtest on the spot, in front of me. There are multiple reasons for that. It isn't practical right now, for some of the reasons above and some that are known but probably pointless to discuss. The more important detail, possibly of use to others: what I'm doing, to make up for the lack of an opportunity to playtest is allowing for a more liberal return window than normal. Normal is 14 days from receipt if purchasing by mail. It is more liberal than that, right now. I don't want to get into the details, because I don't want to open myself up to abuse via this policy, but the same applies to in-person purchases. There is always a return window, it's just different now from normal to account for lacking the opportunity, mutually, for in-person playtesting at the shop.
- I'm taking repair work, but it sits for 9 days before I touch it. The hand-off happens "curbside," and I take the horn directly to a storage that only I access, where it sits for 9 days, untouched, before I bring it back to the shop and open the case. SARS was known to live up to 29 days on stainless steel under idea laboratory conditions. The general advisements from CDC and WHO seem to be that 9 days is sort of a conservative, safe estimate for longer survival times on stainless steel and plastic for Covid-19. I will *have* to play the horn when I work on it. Normally, I can sometimes leave the work as technical only (unplayed during or after working) if the player will be picking up in person and playtesting before leaving the shop. Since that latter is impossible with current precautions, it is impossible for me not to play before considering any job finished. I represent a potential threat to every customer, never mind every person I contact, as I increase my potential exposure. To limit it by not taking chances on transfer seems an obvious consideration, to me. So that is the policy: 9 days before I work on anything, minimum, after receiving it, and nothing even enters my shop from outside without this quarantining in the storage space before it does.
- After I complete work, I do two things that are not normally (but probably should have been) part of the final work on every horn: 1) wash the nedk's interior and exterior with dishsoap and water, 2) run hot air both over the outside of the body and through the interior of the body after it has had time to dry out. I mask up and wear gloves, hands sanitized before putting the gloves on (yes, while alone in the shop) before this. The finished horn in the case goes into a cardboard box and is sealed, and that is what's handed off when the customer comes to pick up. The client has the option of having me hold the horn in that condition -- boxed -- for up to 14 days if they like. That is so that the horn has time to "self-sanitize" in the box with minimal exposure to "droplets," and time for any cooties that may be on the horn to die. As most probably know, the recommended wait time for cardboard is about 24 hours. That is why I box all jobs, now, i.e. that after the 24 hours, with all this info on hand, the customer can make her/his own choice about how long to wait before opening the case.
That's not everything, but it's most of it.
I'm not trying to tell people what to do, or trying to start a big argument about what is or isn't a reasonable policy. Just sharing what I'm doing in case it's of use, and in case that father should need a detailed explanation. I found the call annoying and aggravating enough that I don't want to call that person back and explain because I'm quite certain he's not interested in hearing it.
This is just what I'm doing, and is shared in the interest of being useful in this nutjob time.
