It's a two way street:
It is very important that the client is very specific as to the work they want performed. One of the barriers to communication is that the client does not know, or more importantly, cannot articulate what it is that they want. As Turnaround points out, people often say"maple neck" when they mean maple fingerboard. How often do we read on this forum that someone wants advice on a refret when they only need a fret dress? How many people know that a "fret dress" is a separate thing?
The truth is that most guitar players have no idea how their guitars work. They don't understand the adjustments that can be made. This isn't disparaging to guitar players. It's true for just about everything we use. Looked under the hood of your car lately? How about your computer? It's a complex world we live in.
A guitar tech (luthier, repairman, whatever) must ask enough questions (detailed questions!) of their prospective client to make sure that they both understand the service being requested. When enough questions are asked, the tech should describe in detail the procedures that he will use to repair the guitar.
Whatever is agreed upon should be written down. This is why most repair shops of any kind use a call tag. The owner's name, contact information, and the service to be performed is written on a tag that is attached to the item.
This advice applies to all professionals. It doesn't matter if you're an auto mechanic, an accountant, a doctor, or an attorney. Seriously, when you have a simple runny nose do you want your doctor to do a proctology exam?
On a personal note: I do not have a paint booth right now so I do not do anything beyond touch up work. I have a body that needed to be refinished. There's a gentleman who lives and works about an hour's drive from me who used to work as a tech for a famous repair shop. I've known the guy for over twenty years. We respect one another, both as people and as guitar repair professionals.
When I showed him the body to him he asked me a ton of questions. Prep work, undercoating, finish coats, clearing, color, and the materials to be used. We discussed whether or not to go for a "new" guitar finish, fade the color to imitate that of the neck, or to do a full on relic. We spent a good fifteen minutes discussing the methods he was going to employ and the materials he was going to use. He jotted everything down on an invoice. He asked me to sign that piece of paper. I was happy to do so because I knew he was going to do exactly what we talked about in the way we agreed.
If you're a client, that's what you should be looking for.
If you're a pro, that's the way it should be done.
