Just when you think you've learned everything you ever wanted to know about you family and parentage, along comes a customer to tell you just what really is the truth! Case in point; Customer comes into my shop and asks "What do you charge for a 2'x3' aluminum sign". Now to me thats rather an open ended question, so I ask him just what this sign is going to say. He hands me a legal size sheet of paper with the layout and copy of what he wants. This legal size sheet is just full of words, 73 of them to be precise, grouped into 8 small to medium paragraphs. He also stated that he needed 2 of them. Now, there was 73 words, to be done in 2 colors, layed out somewhat like a large check list. I got out my trusty old calculator, looked in my computer graphics pricing guide, adjusted there price accordingly, and gave a quote of $210.00 each. After mister customer picked up his lower jaw off the floor he proceeded to tell me thing about my parents that I wasn't aware of! You can guess what that means! I know that in business the customer is always right, But in this case I had to correct him on some of the finer points of my parents life together prior to my being born! Then with the biggest, nicest smile I could muster on my face, I asked him if he knew what that rectangular hole in the wall behind him was used for,and would he kindly propel his overtly large caboose through it! To which he replied "#$%@%%%$ you" and left. Now i think, and maybe I'm wrong , that $210.00 was a good price for what he wanted done. What do you guys think? Was I out in left field? By the way after he left, I called my mom, just to make sure that my customer didn't know more about my family than I did!!!
------------------ Tom Hartel Sunset Signs & Graphics Forest Hill,Md
Posted by david drane (Member # 507) on :
Tom, it doesn;t matter what the price was there is no need for straight out rudeness.I don't resort to swearing at clients but I don't mind telling them to hit the road either. They generally say they will tell all and sundry what a %^&^%%# I am but I have been around a lot of years and never felt the repurcussions from these threats which just goes to show how many friends these jerks must have.
------------------ Drane Signs Sunshine Coast Nambour, Qld. dranesig@dingoblue.net.au Downunder "Those who have suceeded at anything and not mentioned luck are kidding themselves" - Larry King;)
Posted by Adrienne Pereira (Member # 1046) on :
David, I think Tom was being just a little tongue in cheek, I got a laugh out of it!I don't think he really treats all his customers that way...looks to me like the guy had it coming. A
------------------ Adrienne Morgan Splash Signs www.splashsigns.com "Rainkatt' on mirc chat
A PROUD sponsor of this amazing site...U can B 2!! www.letterheads.com/supporters "If it wasn't for signs, you wouldn't know where you were!!"
42 ALta Loma Benicia, CA 94510 707-746-7847 (shop) 707-550-4553 (voicemail) adrienne@splashsigns.com
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
Depending on who's honor is being questionioned, I would give the customer 10 seconds to leave or be escorted out in the best means possible. And as far as the phrase"the customer is always right", that is not a truism. It merely states as long as one has the money, they are right until satisfied.
------------------ Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Since 1978 http://www.wrightsigns.bigstep.com
Posted by Larry Elliott (Member # 263) on :
Tom, I think you handled it well. Anyone that is so rude as to make a verbal attack on your parents just because they don't like a fair qoute on a sign project should have been tagged on the nose before they left. I'm usually a passive person by nature but if someone jumps in my face without a cause I'll give a cause to remember. In over thirty years in business I've only had to physically remove one 'customer' from my shop and have only had to tell three others to leave. Just because we are in a public service type business that does not mean we have to tolerate abuse from anyone. If someone is disatisfied about a product or service and can make a statement without making a personal attack then I can handle that but using childish tactics will only get 'em a boot in the butt. I still the believe that the customer 'is not ALWAYS right'.
------------------ Larry
Elliott Design McLemoresville, Tn.
If you can't find the time to do it right, where gonna find the time to do it over?
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I'd ask this guy what he wants to pay and perhaps he could fax this to as many shops as he could, and maybe he'll find someone to do it.
You know that web site where you tell them what you want to pay for airline tickets? If they can meet the price, they get you there only often it requires several stop overs with lengthy delays and flight changes.
------------------ The SignShop Mendocino, California "Where the Redwoods meet the Surf"
Posted by Designer Sign (Member # 1775) on :
I don't think I could resist revealing the fact that my daddy was his daddy too!
------------------ Tommy-Bama Boy- D*SIGN*R "With each completed job...Our SALES-FORCE increases!"
Posted by Pierre St.Marie (Member # 1462) on :
Listen Rick.......if you're ALWAYS gonna suggest the correct and polite thing to do, how are we EVER gonna have any meaningful confrontation and conflict?? :^)
------------------ St.Marie Graphics & Makin' Tracks Sound Studio Kalispell, Montana stmariegraphics@centurytel.net http://www.stmariegraphics.com 800 735-8026 We're chiseling every day of the week! :^)
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
Tom,
For small signs with large copy, you need to have them printed with an Edge or Roland 0r whatever.
Set up time would take 30 minutes, printing would take under 15 minutes, application fo the print to the aluminum blank another 15 minutes.
This post opens two cans of worns: The rude customer The price a sign could be done for
People are waking up to the fact that plotter cut letters are not a fast way or inexpensive way to go if there is digital printing available. The pinting businesses in this area are doing signs like the one you described for $100 or less.
The customer's rudeness may been avoided if you could have searched out several options. While you could do the layout set up, the digital print could have been farmed out. You might have reached price you both could live with.
Still, people should act civil. There was no reason for that reaction to a price. I had a few of those customers too.
------------------ Draper The Signmaker Bloomington Illinois USA
Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
There is no no reason to ever tolerate verbal abuse from a potential customer. This had nothing to do with the price you quoted; you have the right to ask for as much as you want, just as the customer has the right to refuse. The fact that you are now asking us if your quote was "out in left field" indicates that you may think his abusive response was somehow justified. It was NOT! The only thing that is justified is that you show that kind of jerk the door, with instructions to not ever come back.
My worst example of that sort of thing was a customer who, on paying for the job, handed me five dollars less than he owed me. I politely pointed out, on the signed work order, the correct amount. The then accused me of changing the total! Had my employee at the time not had the presence of mind to intervene, I very likely would have knocked him on his ass on the spot, and I am NOT a violent man; such was my outrage that he would call me a liar - for a lousy five dollars! That was seven years ago. A few weeks ago the same guy showed up at my shop, asking me to price a truck lettering job. I quoted him triple my usual price, payment in full in advance, and that I had a two-month backlog. Needless to say, I won't be lettering his truck. When my business requires that I work for that kind of creep, I'll shut the doors and go park cars for a living.
------------------ "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson)
Cam Finest Kind Signs 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988"
Posted by Gailforce (Member # 152) on :
the old "the customer is always right" gets trotted out so much. what crap.
we are self-employed. we make our own company rules. if you can tolerate crap, go for it. for me, no way. i've got enough already.
notice other businesses assert their will. "no shoes, no shirt, no service" or "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone"
that's unnatural getting so upset about a price you don't like. that guy needs a psychiatrist!!!
------------------ free to paint, day and night :) Gailforce Airbrush & Design Squamish, BC, Canada www.gailforce.homestead.com
Posted by RonniesTintSigns (Member # 1669) on :
You can verbely attack me & you will get plenty back but attack my parents you'll be running from my shop with you tale between your legs.I live by one rule thats important I TAKE NO ****,especially from someone I don't know.I'm not a redneck at nature but I TAKE NO **** FROM ANYONE
Dave Draper's post has me wondering about digital printing.
By rights, shouldn't that kind of sign, whether it's digital or vinyl letters, be priced similar? How else is one to pay for the expensive digital printer?
------------------ Graphic Impact located in BC Canada gisigns@sprint.ca
Posted by Kelli (Member # 248) on :
I read this thread Friday, shortly before I left to set up my vendor's booth in Ft. Lauderdale. After I read it, I thought how fortunate I've always been in having had only one rude customer in four years of business. The one was a complete jerk who used to bring me cheap jobs for which he wanted to less than I'd quoted. It was always a hassle. One day he must have been in a foul mood and was really nasty, so I just "fired" him. I told him I didn't want his business and as the owner of my shop I was hereby "firing" him as a customer. His jaw dropped. Happily, I never saw him again, and it felt really good. Anyways, after congratulating myself on my good luck last Friday, I merrily went on my way to Ft. Lauderdale. This guy comes up to the table and starts asking questions about the dye sub t-shirts. He's wearing a shirt with regular ink jet transfers on it and asking what I'd charge. Then he got a little testy over how much more mine cost then what he paid for the one he was wearing. I remembered this post and kept smiling and being polite and friendly. Then he asked for my e-mail address. I handed him a business card and then said to him "oh,no! I forgot to put my e-mail on it", and I gave a little embarrassed laugh. The man mocked my laugh! It stunned me, it was so blatantly rude and condescending. I tried desperately to maintain professionalism. I muttered (just barely loud enough for him to hear, f*** U (which is a FIRST for me)and continued the conversation in a perfectly friendly normal tone of voice like I'd never uttered foul language at him. He blinked. Stuttered thank you, and left. I guess I left him wondering if he'd heard correctly. I lost the battle to stay professional, but like firing that customer, I have to admit it felt pretty good, though I'm a little embarrassed at the language I used. Shocked my husband, too, who was sitting next to me. I don't think he realized I knew how to say that phrase
------------------ Kelli Cajigas aka Janda Dolphin deSigns & Banners “A satisfied customer will tell two friends, a dissatisfied customer will tell ten.”
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
And then there is the even worse (to me, at least) type who calls and asks: "How much do you charge for vinyl letters?" You know that they are stictly price shoppers, and after listening to thier list of sizes and colors, as soon as you give them a price they hang up to call the next shop on their list! So my answer is "Probably more than you are willing to pay!" and I hang up
Been there, done that!
------------------ Si Allen #562 La Mirada, CA. USA (714) 521-4810 ICQ # 330407 "SignPainters do It with Longer Strokes!"
Brushasaurus on Chat
Gladly supporting this BB !
[This message has been edited by Si Allen (edited November 06, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by Si Allen (edited November 06, 2000).]
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Good thing the respectful customers far outweigh the rude ones. Little things like saying "Do you have something to write this on? I know these business cards cost money" really mean alot. What a contrast between someone that thoughtful and considerate and type who wants to bully, run over you roughshod and cuss you over money.
------------------ Wayne Webb Webb Sign Studio,Inc. creators of "woodesigns" "autograph your work with excellence" webbsignstudio@digitalexp.com
Posted by Bill Biggs (Member # 18) on :
2x3 aluminum, edge printed aluminum 15.00 edge printing 2 color 9.00 a ft (11.5x12ftcopysize)36.00 application 5.00 shipping charges for edge print if you order it 10.00 appx Total 66.00 markup 66.00 total 132.00 each plus tax. What I would have charged, unless the guy insulted me, If he did I would give him Helen Waite's address. Bill
------------------ Bill & Barbara Biggs Art's Sign Service, Inc. Clute, Texas, USA Home of The Great Texas Mosquito Festival Proud second year Supporter of the Letterheads Website MailTo:twobeesusa@netscape.net
