Michael Hugo

Mr. Hugo was very prompt in returning my phone call. The piano tuning was scheduled one week out. I inherited a Steinway that had not been tuned in over 30 years. I doubted whether it could be tuned. Mr. Hugo did a wonderful job bringing the piano back to life. He said the tuning is not quite there yet. The process of bringing the piano to tune has to be done gradually over time because it's been so long. Still...the piano sounds so much better! I am really looking forward to having him return in 6 months!

Michael was great. I sent an email and he responded very promptly. We were able to schedule a date very quickly and he was very flexible with the time. I live in Woodbridge and he made the trip all the way from Arlington. He showed up early and completed the job. We are completely satisfied with his service and will definitely use him in the future. We recommend him and had no issues with him or his service.

Our piano is second-hand, and as such, not in the best shape. Mr. Hugo has coaxed sounds from it I did not think were possible. I called him, expecting to get an appointment the following week, but he made an appointment to come in two days. He was working me in before he left for two weeks, and even so was accommodating to my schedule. He came promptly, went to work, showed me why the piano did not need certain repairs I thought it might, and did an amazing job. I will definitely call him back to tune our piano next time.

It was the first time I had used him. It went well. The actual "tuning" of the piano didn't fix some problems. I would use him again in the future.

Before I called Michael last summer, the piano in question, a Knabe upright made just after WWII had not be tuned in 5 years and I was dreading what a piano tuner might say about it. Today we had our second tuning from Michael and it is sounding better than it has in 25 years! He has a great ear yet still works quickly and had not tried to talk us into any unnecessary overhauls. I cannot recommend Michael Hugo highly enough.

Michael is wonderful. First he agreed to come out to Fauquier County--well outside his immediate area--and was both gracious and accommodating about scheduling his visit. We corresponded mostly by email. He was always prompt to reply. The day he came out we had the piano moved to the middle of the room for him which we had agreed to do for him, and he set right to work. He examined the piano, let us know what its issues were, and then tuned it. It sounds wonderful! He let us know that the piano would need another tuning within 6 months because it hadn't been worked on in so long. Michael let us know that he doesn't repair pianos, just tunes them, but he did let us know a repairman in our area who could fix the broken strings. We found Michael to be professional, accommodating, and really good at his work. I would hire him again in a heartbeat.

Mr. Hugo came on time and set to work immediately. He was efficient and had me check out the tonal quality of the piano. I was impressed with his character and the quality of his work.

I contacted Mr. Hugo based on the number of positive reviews for him on Angie's List and the fact that he was local to me (Arlington). Mr Hugo was very professional from start to finish. He responded to my voice mail the same day as my inquiry and was available to do the tuning within a week of my original call. I described the services needed (tuning, possibly fixing one stuck key) and he was very responsive. He described his stringing policy, which is basically that on pianos last tuned more than 1 year previously, it is the customer's responsibility if a string breaks during the tuning. He gave me an estimate of $95-145 dollars based on my description of the services needed. Mr. Hugo mentioned that he would be out of town over the Christmas holiday, but he called me from his vacation in Maine two days before the tuning to confirm the appointment (10am, 12/28). I was a little worried about him finding our house (based on the few negative reviews on Angie's List), but he arrived punctually and was professional in appearance and demeanor. I helped him get started by removing the front panel from the piano (his back had been injured, he said), which was no problem, and he immediately got to work. It was a pleasure to hear all the out-of-tune keys come into tune as Mr. Hugo worked. Fortunately, none of the strings broke during the tuning so that didn't become an issue. All told, he spent about 1 1/2 hours on the job. After he was all done, he mentioned that all his tuning is done by ear (without the aid of an electronic tuner, as I've seen other piano tuners use), so I was pretty impressed. He mentioned that he would follow-up in 6 months to see if we needed it to be tuned again. Payment was by check at the $95 cost he estimated ($55 cheaper than the minimum quote I got from a larger piano shop). The piano sounds beautiful and my wife was extremely happy to be able to play some of her favorites Christmas songs on an in-tune piano. All in all, Mr. Hugo did a great job and I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs their piano tuned.

I contacted Mike Hugo because he has the highest rating on Angie's list and because of his price. When I called him and asked for an estimate, he asked me to play the middle C on the keyboard. Then he told me it would be $95. I was very impressed. I gave him a fair warning: This is a new address, so it is likely it will not show up on GPS if you haven't updated the map for a while. You should get directions on-line. On the day of the appointment, Mike called to say he was lost. He called twice and each time I gave him elaborate directions and even showed him how to use his GPS to look for a landmark. I spent a LONG time on the phone with him. Finally I used a bit sarcastic humor: and quot;I hope your piano tuning skills are better than your navigation skills.and quot; After nearly a hour, he finally found my house, but he was upset and told me, and quot;I don't want to do this any longer. I am really upset by your comment.and quot; I told him I was trying to use humor to diffuse the frustration and I apologized. But he was still upset. At that point I said, and quot;It's okay if you don't want to do this any longer. Thanks for coming.and quot; I cannot deal with the artist's temper. I find it highly irresponsible and unprofessional. It is his responsibility to get the directions and I did tell him in advance that his GPS will not find this new address if he had not updated his GPS maps. If he had searched for directions in advance, he would have saved himself a lot of time and stress, as well as for me. Granted, not everyone will appreciate sarcastic humor, but I think he should have accepted it when I apologized. I find him very unprofessional and immature --- almost childish. I will not recommend his service to anyone. I would rather hire someone with a higher rate but with better communications skills and temperament.

I contacted him via e-mail to schedule an appointment. He returned my contact via phone to confirm the date and time. He called the day before to confirm the appointment. He arrived a little early (10 minutes). He tuned the piano in about 90 minutes. The charge was less than I expected ($125) and he accepted a check.

Mike Hugo confirmed the appointment before coming out, and he actually arrived a little early. He went right at the job with no fuss, and completed the tuning in a most efficient manner. We were impressed withhis professionalism.

My piano had not been tuned for many, many years. Mike tuned it perfectly and I am looking forward to taking piano lessons so that I can once again enjoy the piano. I would recommend him to anyone who is in need of piano tuning. It was a pleasure working with Mike.

I e-mailed Mr. Hugo to schedule a tuning for my piano. He called me back and we set up a time for that Saturday. He was a little late because he had to stop to do an errand first, but he called to let me know. so it was not a problem. He was very efficient and did a great job tuning the piano. I couldn't wait to play it when he was finished. It sounds wonderful.I will definitely call him when the piano is due for a regular tuning.

I sent an email message to Mr. Hugo on a Sunday afternoon. He called me back on Sunday afternoon. Although I missed his call on Sunday, when I spoke to him the following day, we were able to schedule an appointment the next Monday (which was the first day that I was available). He called twice to confirm the time (the day before and the day of the appointment). He was a little late arriving, in part because my address doesn't always show up on GPS. He isn't able to lift, so I had to help him move the piano away from the wall and help to lift the front cover off. This did not present a problem for me, but might present difficulties for someone who is in frail health or has mobility challenges or some other disability that makes lifting and moving difficult. The rest of the appointment went very smoothly. Mr. Hugo worked quickly and was very professional. I'm very pleased with the results and will contact him in the future for service.

Mr. Hugo tuned the piano that I had just acquired from my mother's estate. He performed the work in about 75 minutes. He was very efficient, polite, well organized and answered all my questions. The sound of the piano is now excellent. Overall I am very satisfied with Mr. Hugo's work. I found his price reasonable for the service performed. I would certainly use him again and enthusiastically recommend him to others.

I called Mr. Hugo and readily scheduled an appointment at my convenience. Mr. Hugo arrived on schedule, tuned my piano efficiently (45 minutes) and very well, and was personable and thoroughly professional. His price was very fair. I will use him again and recommend him highly.

He is great. He calls to confirm the appointment. He called to see if he could come early, which I was thrilled with. He showed up early, and he's doing his work. The job is taking way longer than I thought. He was on time.

Overall, I thought he did a great job and was professional and punctual. I will call him again.

Mike was knowledgeable and did a great job. I purchased a used baby grand which had not been tuned for three years. Mike indicated that it may take three tunings to bring the piano back without breaking the strings. It only took two tunings - no strings broken - and the piano sounds great!

He did a fine job, reasonably priced, and I was satisfied with the service. He was very responsive in calling back and professional. It did not take a long time to do the tuning either.

Excellent experience, definitely recommend him.

Excellent. I emailed Michael on Monday. We set up a tentative appointment for Wednesday. We spoke briefly on Tuesday when I gave him directions and we discussed payment. Michael arrived on time. He is very friendly and he completed the tuning in about 90 minutes. He indicated that the piano wasn't in "too bad of shape" when he arrived. Based on our infrequent playing he recommended a tune up in about 9 months. Piano tuning made easy!

Michael was on time, courteous and professional. He came within a few days of our call to him. When I made the appointment, he asked how long it had been since the piano had been tuned and the make of piano. I said 30 years, and he warned me that with such a long gap between tunings, there was a risk that the strings might break when tuned. He said that if they broke, it would be my responsibility to fix them, but he could refer me to string repairers. Fortunately, he did a great job and the strings did not break. He recommended that we have the piano tuned every six months. The piano sounds fantastic now, and I will definitely use his services again. (One reason it had been so long between tunings was that the piano didn't sound right after the tuner 30 years ago worked on, and that tuner told us that our piano was defective, which was why it didn't sound right.) So Michael saved the day and restored our piano, which once again sounds beautiful. (Would sound even better if someone more talented than me were playing it.)

Neither rain, sleet, or the snowmageddon of 2010 could keep this trusty fellow from his appointed rounds! Our neighborhood was barely dug out, but Mr. Hugo called to say he would be coming as scheduled. He was also thoughtful enough to call and say he was running 30 minutes late, as his previous appointment took longer than he thought. A very pleasant person to deal with, and the piano sounds good too!

He was fine. When he came to do the work, he was very prompt. He did the work well. He didn’t charge huge amount of money.