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"now...this family is shopping for a new piano teacher. An acquaintance of mine told me that she received a call from them and will agree to an interview.... do you share regarding former students' bill paying delinquency? I feel that I should inform this new teacher of my situation but want to keep things professional..."

I guess you're somewhat between a rock and a hard place, Barb. The greater profit for you is to devise a means to prevent such losses, and distressful waste of your time, in the future (a signed work agreement and clearly-stated studio policy). I guess continuing to invoice them for several more months would not cost much time or money. If you can contact them by phone and determine what the problem is, that may settle it as long as you don't count on hearing the bankable truth spoken. Other than that, I would cut my losses if I were you.

It seems to me that you do want to have a talk with the new teacher, and I don't really know why not, other than the possibility of talk in the backchannel (which is pretty much inevitable, no matter what you do or don't do). If your motive is to protect the other teacher, but not to assassinate their character, it seems fairly harmless. If you wish to unburden yourself of your feelings about this, do it with someone you know better, and trust.

Anyway, they are gone from your studio, so be glad for that. Requesting a reference from a former teacher may turn such types around, for the future. Or, if you're that curious, you can check the credit history of prospects... though I would imagine that structuring your payment schedule to prevent significant exposure would be the better way.

"...What better way to give a clear and unambiguous message to a teacher that they were worth less than what they were charging than to withhold partial payment?..."

Now that's just insulting--- in both directions. It is not profitable to put the worst construction on a bad situation, without really knowing.

update:

this morning I received an email from the students' parents, stating they had left a check for $ owed under my front porch mat. Got it. The note apologized for the lack of communication during the past several weeks.

Great Barb!!
Maybe they read this thread!

Glad it turned out well. It is amazing how many people will allow someone else to walk all over them. Calling someone out when they do something wrong is totally appropriate (but our culture is going down the tubes with political correctness!)

Just curious, did you do something to make them pay? Or they just made the payment on their own?

I sent them a letter restating our agreement from 2 years ago when they started lessons.

Good job. A snail mail letter or an email?

Snail mail.

What?!?!? No Mafia goons to cement their feet in the river?

No letters with parts of magazines (to avoid detection) warning them that they'll be looking the roots of the flowers if they don't pay.

No voodoo magic, or regular black magic?

Nothing?



(Of course I'm kidding and this is just another way of showing that sometimes snail mail is MUCH better than anything else! Honestly!)

I know it is in "your part of the world" -- Have you been visiting the town where my father was born?

LOL, very true. However, I have also been in similar situations where they never did respond to letters and phone calls, and it was no small sum that was owed.

I'm glad it worked out for you this time, Barb.

That's great news. Who knows what kind of personal issues were going on?

Send them a handwritten note reflecting positively on the two years you taught their children and let them know that if -- as their circumstances may change again -- they want to return in future they are welcome, if there is space in your studio. Keep them on your Christmas Card list.

For me, digital=free (e.g. imslp.org) and paper=quality (e.g. Henle and your editions, such as the excellent "Piano Stories for Piano 4 Hands" by Nikolas Sideris).

There are already distributors that specialize in digital formats and that have their own sales, distribution, display and protection schemes worked out, such as musicnotes.com (and probably others that specialize in classical). You might work with one of them as distributors on the digital front and keep concentrating on what you do very well now without having to make those investments.

Personal issues? Highly doubt it. She presented them with their agreement and they figured out correctly that they were caught. Send them a Christmas card or note? Really???? I would let it go and not contact them again. After she was treated the way she was, you want her to write that they could return. Gosh! I don't allow someone back in my studio when I have been treated with disrespect. Parents could have (I am sure) cared less about the two years. If they did, she would not have been treated badly.

"...this morning... they had left a check for $ owed under my front porch mat... The note apologized..."

"...That's great news. Who knows what kind of personal issues were going on?..."

A timely thought, thinking which there is often room to allow the benefit of the doubt. There are so many cases that need it! They may deserve it or they may not, but it helps keep my blood pressure from pegging the gauge.

Raising dead beats back into live beats is an impressive--- and near miraculous--- feat. I congratulate you, Barb. Also for communicating with the dead without a seance or even a channel. Their ears may have been hot as a stove, and they knew not why (or maybe they do read this forum; we don't know). Yet, as they searched their conscience, they resolved to make right this oversight, out of all those that there must have been.

I allow great credit for those who rectify sins of omission. This one may seem small, compared to what I see on TV every day. But I'll tell you, these venial sins add up, and from this end of my life, Judgement Day doesn't seem that far off. I would like to think, that when the time comes, piano teachers who have gone on before would be standing at St. Peter's elbow, saying, "Go easy, he paid the piano teacher's bill and left a nice note."

So a relationship of two years (!) -- that the teacher has profited from and has been paid for fully -- is irrelevant to you?

Great idea of yours: Take offence, seeing yourself as some kind of disrespected victim, assume the worse about everyone and then burn bridges. You must have great karma! I bet you don't get near as many referrals as you could if you tried to understand others' situations, respected people yourself and assumed the best about people and gave them the benefit of the doubt while keeping communication lines open ...

If you ever find yourself overwhelmed or run into a rough patch in your life, we'll see how you do if everyone just assumes you are a bad person and treats you like ****.

There seem to be a lot of unchristian, sour, embittered, self-centered and entitled piano teachers out there in this world of ours!

I guess the best advice remains: Caveat emptor.

That's a great point! Sometimes you have to demand respect to get respect. Teachers who come across as caring and accommodating might get more referrals and clients, but usually not the right type of clients, either.

You people need to get one thing perfectly straight:
YOU ARE NOT RUNNING A MINISTRY!
You do not have a money tree in the backyard for paying your bills. You have bills like everyone else. You need to eat.

I'm not a teacher. I have dealt with services to the public. There are so many people who want to think you're running a ministry. They rationalize that you've been paid enough. They don't need to pay any more than they have to. Some people will try to go from company(teacher) to company(teacher) not paying bills.

I would suggest you people set up a database in your local associations to keep track of deadbeats.

I would always ask nicely (demand) payment in advance. If they're not paid, no lesson. Some people like to play that game of paying later. Then they shoot off their mouths to get out of paying.

I could give you lots of examples outside of piano teachers. Lately I have been dealing with businesses whom; the employees think they can just shoot off their mouth to get away with free service. Lie, pick a fight, false accusations. I don't fight with them. I try to be nice and talk to them to avoid the extra charges. They shoot off their mouths. I just charge them. I don't fight. I don't need this BS! Then when they're charged. The owner finds out and ths S! hits the fan at that company. I'm finding out that we try to be nice to customers. Some just can't take that. Be nice, and they create a lie that you have an attitude. Try to take the fight to my company. At times, I think it isn't worth being nice. On the other hand. I see tons of appreciation from my residential customers for being nice to them. I get a bunch from them at Christmas.
I used to drive a taxi at night. You'd be surprised how many people expected a taxi ministry.