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Hey everybody. I am curious to know what kind of warranties other companies are putting with their work. I have a customer currently who would like some sort of guaruntee. I have not delt with this issue as of yet and would so much appreciate some advice from experts. Thanks so much! Sincerely, Sarah
-------------------- Sarah F. Evans Appalachian Signs and Design 186 Parkside Road Boone, North Carolina 28607 Posts: 97 | From: Boone, NC | Registered: Dec 2006
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I'd tell 'em if they can find another company that'll 'guarantee' it, you'll 'guarantee' they're lying....
Other than that, no guarantees...
Seriously, it depends a lot on the product. Are you talking of vinyl lettering, magnetics, a post sign, banner or what?? You can tell him/her that under normal conditions, the life of their product is X amount, but there is no way for you to foresee what kinds of abuse their lettering/sign will go through...
Off the top of my head, I can think of quite a few ways you could get screwed by the customer, if you offered too broad of a guarantee.
Magnetics: had customers blame me for them blowing off... when I looked at their truck it was very dirty, and knew it was a good chance they didn't clean it before applying them. Also, how do you know there isn't a big chunk of bondo on the door they had it stuck to?
Post Sign: You get a thunderstorm and a small little twister comes through and tears the sign down... again, you can tell them under NORMAL conditions the sign will be fine, but are you going to cover it unconditionally? Around here that's an issue, because of our hurricanes.. how can I guarantee a sign won't be damaged in 150 mph winds with who-know's-what flying through the air?
Vinyl Lettering: they wash the vehicle with too strong of cleaner and mess it up.. or some kid pulls off letters to make it spell what they want.. or they have asked you put it on this old painted piece of plywood, and you know it won't stick that well... or they totally wad up the car graphics you cut because they don't know how to apply them, then call and say the premask was wrinkled really badly, and they need a new one, for free of course.
Banners and coroplast signs: customer has sign up for 3 months and it deteriorates.... they come back and want a new one... (hey, they said TEMPORARY and wanted it for $25... DUH) or they bring the banner back with the grommets ripped out and want a new one, but they don't tell you they cinched it up with rope instead of bungies like you told them.
A LOT of these things can be prevented by educating your customer, and you can tell them that if they follow your instructions exactly, and the sign/lettering fails, you'll take a look at it, and do what you can to help them out. Also tell them to talk to a few of your customers (provided you haven't screwed anyone) and ask them if you've ever gypped them in the past or failed to correct a problem that was your fault.
'GUARANTEE' it? Not very often, in my books.
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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...if they were ever to ask, I'd tell' em that my signs are guaranteed to do the job they were made to do!!! Like INCREASE BUSINESS, and even CREATE SUCCESS for my clients. I think that's enough...
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...and but if the sign falls off the building and I installed it... ...I have to get it back up there at no charge to the client. (I'm lucky it didn't land on a car or bean anyone.)
1: I guarantee that once the check clears the bank, the product is YOURS.
2: If the product should fail within the first year, I guarantee to replace it for the same price.
3: If the product should fail after the first year, I guarantee the replacement cost will be higher than the original price. [that's cause anytime you do the same thing a year later for the same price, you are actually doing it for less.
As far as an actual guarantee, nothing is written down, but I treat my customers the way I would "want" to be treated, not necessarily the way I would "expect" to be treated.
Right now I am working on $1200.00 worth of raised letters that I will be replacing for free. They were installed 4 months ago, and several have fallen off. Some broke, and some have dissappeared. I have others in the same room that have been there for over 5 years. The customer asked for a quote so they could issue a PO, but I told them the lettes had not been there long enough. I am not sure yet if we made a mistake on the install, or if I had some bad adhesive, but I am sure that if I had paid that much for them, I would expect them to stay up longer than they have.
-------------------- Don Hulsey Strokes by DON signs Utica, KY 270-275-9552 sbdsigns@aol.com
I've always been crazy... but it's kept me from going insane. Posts: 2275 | From: Utica, KY U.S.A. | Registered: Jan 1999
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We do mainly pin striping. We offer the same warranty on our striping as the manufacturer of the vehicle offers on thier paint be it one, three, five years whatever. Done right, the paint should easily last that long. I did get bit about eight or ten years ago by a can of maroon One Shot and had to redo the maroon on about eight trucks. One Shot was no help, wanting to know what the batch number was. Hell, the can was used up by the time the fading started
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
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I was hesitant to answer until George replied. I only do paint work and offer the same warranty as George but sometimes persons want more when in fact they themselves are in need of a wake up call. My care card says it all and if it isn't taken care of properly, the warranty doesn't mean diddley to either of us.
-------------------- HotLines Joey Madden - pinstriping since 1952 'Perfection, its what I look for and what I live for'
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Hiya Sarah, As I mentioned in a previous post, I offer no warranty on anything I don't install. Cash and carry items are sold "as is". On products we manufacture and/or install, I stand behind and honor the maufacturers warranty on the products we use. Normally that's not too much though if you read the fine print because they are normally pro-rated. The one exception where there is a good warranty is Gemini letters. I've had issues (my fault too) and they didn't even hesitate to replace the product.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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