Exactly, so for all the parent knows my diplomas could all be fake, isn't the point here that the emphasis is in the wrong place? As was mentioned already, who cares what diplomas you have, it doesn't mean you are a good teacher or even a good performer. He didn't want a trial lesson, he wanted a discount, he wanted a meeting with me, which I 'humbly' accepted in an attempt to be 'flexible'. I don't like to turn away students who may not be able to afford lessons, that was my reasoning, I get a lot of inquiries from people who just want to know how much I charge, 99% choke when I tell them, so I have started to include an addenda with email that says if finances are an issue, perhaps we can arrange something else, in attempt to save them from just turning purple. This was the first guy who wrote back and said what his limit was, which I sympathized with, but I was now down to what a standard teacher with little experience and a B.mus would be paid in my area. So I guess he felt he was getting good value now, but just wanted to check those credentials to make sure I wasn't cheating him in any way. Hmm. Fair enough! And, I invited him to my studio to have a look. Again I hope that was a gesture of humility, but I also hoped the price tag would wake him up that I am not messing around, if he wants to shop, fine, but not on my time. I have a web site with all required info for getting started, but very little has come of it in the last 10 months, so I'm just in the process of re-vamping it.
Case in point, I had a new student last week, mid-20's, great lesson (from my perspective), I was pleased, I really saw that I was going to be able to work with this girl. She wanted to do her grade 5 ABRSM, she paid my full rate without hesitation and even asked if she could pay in advance on the first lesson! Now she had initially asked for a trial lesson, with no obligation to continue, I said that was fine, so this was a surprise to me. I always allow new students a 1 month grace period where they just pay me per lesson, so that they don't feel 'roped' into something that after 2 or 3 lessons they decide they don't want to continue with. So, since she was so good, and I had agreed to pick up the grade 5 books for her, with the plan that we would aim for the June exam next year, I said no problem, lets start with payment in advance in the new year, that will give you a chance to see if this is really what you want! Well, today, 4pm, no show. I called her, she was out of the city (so she said), and entirely forgot to call me, so sorry...for the ABRSM books and lost lesson it cost me over $100. But, its my fault, I was stupid and lost the opportunity to receive a month in advance in the name of being humble and trusting of my student. I have also taken the habit of picking up music for students as an added service, simply because they rarely ever do it when I ask them too!
My policy now is: my commitment starts now, when does yours? Payment in advance on the first lesson, trial or not. If I don't have your money, I don't work for you! Period.