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Do sign makers come last?
Ok I have been dealing with a customer now of almost a month. The customer is having their retail premises renovated which includes an internal refit, new equipment, building work and new signage. At out first meeting i was given an approximate budget, required timescale etc. After taking a deposit for the design work etc we had two further meetings, finalised the designs, materials, spec etc. I worked within the budget to achieve the most for the given price. This was verbally agreed and the design approval signed.
With all the bank holidays etc it has been almost 2 weeks since we have spoken. I called my customer today only to be told that the building work is taking longer than expected, and costing more, and there is no way that they can afford to spend the amount on the signage.
This p**ses me right off. Because the signs are the last thing to be fitted, they inevitably come last in the order of importance when it comes to the budget. Not only that, when the builders run a week over time and discover more problems the customer has to pay it, and in this case it will come out of my pocket.
I don’t want to lose the job, having spent the time and effort on it so now I have no option but to revise the spec, waste some more time, and eventually make less money.
Rant over…
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12 Replies
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Hi Owen,
That does sound annoying, personally I’ve never been in that
situation so can’t really comment that much.If you’ve put in so much work already and your customer really
likes the initial (agreed signs) can’t you offer them the option
of paying it off in installments.Just my thoughts
Good luck
Dan
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Use the deposit to pay for your time spent on the job and refund the rest and tell them where to stick their sign! Can do without customers like that, make them pay for wasting your time. (chat.) (:) (hot)
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I would do the same as Mike.
As much as it grieved me to once do it, in a similar situation to your own, it gave quite a nice sense of satisfaction to do just as Mike suggests.
I invoiced for my time and materials purchased which pretty much covered half the cost of the materials, this was deducted from the deposit (all of it!).
I sent a 2nd invoice for the balance on the materials if they wanted what they’d paid for so far (vinyl on a roll!).
I also enclosed a 3rd invoice explaining that the artwork was still my copyright and that they were not, under any circumstances, to use any part of it. they paid neither the 2nd or 3rd invoice (as expected).
they did rudely inquire if I was mad to turn down their custom, I suggested I wasn’t mad, was quite busy and had customers waiting for work to be installed, therefore I needed to be earning and not doing a job that had been signed of as good, twice for less money. heard no more and they’ve now, apparently, got a naff banner or something up there. i’m down there next week to look at another takeaway two streets away, i’ve some lovely artwork ready to show them!
had I been quiet, I might have relented but, being busy and it being a one off job, it didn’t bother me too much. my only worry was loss of a bit of good will.
do what you feel right dude. if walking away and cutting your losses makes financial sense, then do just that. no point working for nothing when you could be chasing profitable work.
Hugh
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It happens a lot.
I get more calls on Fridays for businesses opening on Mondays than I care to think about.
I had a cousin who opened a beauty shop up the street and bought one sign from me (at a VERY fair price, she’s family) this involved a lot of back and forth because for some reason her email never worked and her cell phone barely worked. She was here a few times, taking a lot of my time for a relatively small job.
Then she was in need of a bigger sign.
More calls more visits.
I gave her a price (again VERY fair) and then she called her boyfriend from my shop to see if he’d let her give a deposit.
She said they were running short of funds and she’d get back to me.
About three weeks later I see she has a new sign.
Luckily the other sign guy didn’t steal my layout but her new sign looks like crap.
And if the other sign guy did it cheaper than I would, he’s an idiot.
Just a little rant.In your case, since you’ve taken a deposit, I would explain to them that you’ve put a lot of time and effort into keeping it all within the budget they set for you.
I would do them a similar layout but on simple inexpensive materials, say for example they initially ordered a sandblasted sign with gilded letters, they would get an aluminum sign with vinyl letters.
I would not do the payment plan option as you may never get paid the remainder.
You could even make them an "GRAND OPENING" banner in lieu of what they ordered and sell them the artwork.
Love….Jill -
What amazes me is the amount they spend on the re-fit with, no thought as to how they are going to sell anything with out decent signage, oh but I forgot all we do is press a button isn’t it 😀
Owen I hope you can recoup something from this.
Lynn -
Many thanks for the replies and the useful suggestions.
Jill, funny you mention the email/phone situation as this has been one of those too. I haven’t been able to email any designs or proofs so it’s all been visits to site. For the initial budget it was worth going back and forth but not anymore. Although I haven’t purchased materials yet and most of the design time is covered I will still lose money if I pull out now.
I don’t want to get too pushy with the customer, it’s just not how I do things. I think I’ll call and arrange a meeting at my workshop and demonstrate the different materials and explain why they should stick to the original spec. If they can find the money to pay the builders, they can find the money for a nice sign…
If not then I may cut my losses.
Cheers!
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Call their bluff – thay are trying to chip you down on price.
I would do nothing – don’t even contact them again. In a week or so they will call you to ask what is happening and you can tell them you thought they had cancelled so have done nothing else, awaiting their instructions.
My betting is once they realise you are prepared to walk away (keeping your deposit) they’ll find the money and the job will go ahead as before.
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Nah, if you walk away then they’ll go somewhere else who will nail a dibond sign up & charge them their entire budget for it & you’ll kick yourself! I suggest you do the same & stop trying to help them out. I know – I’ve been where you are before!
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Yes I meant to say what Phill said, I also think they are attempting to haggle you down. I’d take his advice.
Yesterday I noticed that my cousin’s shop is still not open. But she has OPEN MONDAY put on the window…with a bingo dauber.
hahaha yeah that looks real professional… -
I’am with Phill. Just ignore them. And if they come back say the deposit is non-refundable as the design was all agreed.
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And if they do want to continue explain to them that you require payment up front as they are now a financial risk. If they won’t pay then they probably won’t pay you when the sign is done. Cut your losses and run! 😕
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we had a haggler the other day… wont mention any names as we do know em quite well… they had to open on the bank holiday weekend no 2… so, a whole change on the outside ended up as just taking down the existing foamex fascia and sticking some boring vinyl on it… nothinng much more then that….
oh they insisted on speaking to the MD, who basically supported our colleague, think they were expecting some ease on the price and timescales not a problem answer lol
job was done… not one to put in the portfolio but artwork time is lost
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