Ever thrown anyone out of your shop?

[threeputt]

Just wondering if things have ever gone so, so very wrong that you were forced to ask someone to leave the store?

[WVB]

Clients - No
Solicitors - Yes...

In fact just yesterday I threw a guy out... I pointed to the door with the lettering that states "NO SOLICITATION" he replied with "oh I thought that said no smoking"... That was it I blew up told him I was tired of their lame excuses... I had one guy come in and said "I am not Italian, I don't speak Sicilian".

[THATgirl]

I never kicked anyone out of my shop when I had one. But I have told customers who were huge pains in the butt that I didn't want to do their job. I have kicked people off my property a few times tho. That's fun.

[Bogie]

About 20 years ago, I had a storefront office in a "nice" part of town, which was fairly close to some "not nice" parts of town. If anyone here's from St. Louis, they know what I'm talking about - the city is a patchwork.

Anywho, I used to keep a .45 under my desk...

[Pro Image]

We put a silver bar of vinyl on a little boy car one time.......He had some windowtint on the glass and we matched it up as best as possible with in a 1/32 of inch........Should have taken 10 min turn into almost 30.........After we were done he looks up at me and whines It's CROOKED! Like hell it was I said, Well Im not paying for it......Wham off comes the vinyl is one pull.....I said have a nice day and the little F'er follows me back into the shop telling me that I had to redo the bar because I F'ed it up.........I snaped then, I had a spray bottle in my hand and up againts the wall the bottle went and out the door he ran.............

[Marlene]

we haven't thrown anyone out but we do have a list of "never do business" "pay 100% before starting job" list of people written on a board in our office.

[Jillbeans]

Years ago, I guess I did, but in a wimpy way.
There was a family of evil-smelling gypsies who lived just down the street.
The father had a real condescending attitude towards women.
I was a new mom, broke, and lettered his carny wagon by hand for $250, which he sat in and watched me paint for 6 hours because he was in a hurry and supposedly couldn't walk back home due to health issues. He even complained if I got paint drips and kept asking for more illegal licensed Disney and WB characters on the damn thing, which had to be painted upside-down because it was a fold-out trailer.
He smelled like a rotten taco/sweaty nutsack and it had to be 90° inside the trailer.
I literally had milk dripping down my ribcage by the time he left (after paying me with $1 bills and trying to short me out of one!) My mom had come up to help with the baby and the other kids.
He came back the following week needing his wife's fortune teller A-boards repainted. I told him I was too busy, and wouldn't be able to work for him.
They left town about a month later and haven't been seen since.

One time I had to re-letter an insurance job, on a pickup I'd painted that tangled with a deer. The client's wife had designed the thing using the Microsoft Word distortion module, and it was ugly as sin. I was doing this thru a body shop, who had the insurance check. The bodyman's wife came out to check my work, and proclaimed it to be "crooked", and told me she wouldn't pay a dime until I fixed it. The client showed up and said it was just fine. So the bodyman came over in his towtruck to pay me, with his wife riding shotgun.
I told him, when he approached me with the check, to get his wife the hell out of my yard. With a look of long suffering, he sighed and drove off.

Oh and then there was the gal who ordered a sign, on her wood, who picked it up raving of how great it looked. Only to call back in a half-hour complaining that her BF didn't like it, that it was maroon and they had specifically ordered burgundy. Her father brought it back the next day with a can of burgundy paint and ordered me to repaint it. I told him to take the sign and the paint and never darken my doorstep again. Of course they stopped payment on their check. I always think evil thoughts when I drive past it, still maroon and sitting there taunting me.

Than many many moons ago there was a man for whom I'd painted some plywood signs (he gave me a $50 deposit) after delivering them, he called saying he didn't like them, that the lettering was too big. I told him to bring them back up to my shop. They are now the underlayment on my bathroom floor.

I once had a salesman type stop in and bug me, and when I pointed at my NO SOLICITORS sign he said "But I'm a lobbyist".
Also ran off two very aggressive YP beeyotches with the help of my older sister. They wouldn't take NO for an answer!

Sorry for the long post. Luckily all of those incidents are well over 10 years old. I'm learning not to take the BS so much from people.

Love....Jill

[Autografxx]

I had a girl bring her bf truck in to get some window lettering done on the windows. I put stuff on the front and the back window as she requested. same color same vinyl. She calls me up the next day and says that all the vinyl had blew off her window when she left and wanted a refund. I told her to bring it by so I could look at it. well when she got there the lettering she claimed blew off was only the rear. I laughed and ask her what her bf didnt like about it and she gave me puzzled look wondering how I knew that. i told her there was no way the rear blew off but the front stayed. she left without saying a word never to return.

[Billct2]

Yes

[dswanson]

lol we don;t have to kick anyone out but we also keep the front door of the office locked to keep joe public from knockin' and the only way it's getting opened is if someone has a appointment.

[threeputt]

I actually dialed the police one time about two years ago. Customer became beligerent, obnoxious and very profane with employees. I asked him to leave and then things kinda went sideways. I'm not proud of the way I handled myself. (lost it a little)

Another guy was an out and out cheat. (woooo...big time land developer) Got loud real fast, too. He burned me for a couple hundred but he knows never to enter my store.

I'm in a "mill town" and it seems some people have learned that intimidation works for them. Huff and puff types. But it doesn't play real well at my shop.

[Replicator]

Not Yet !

[Matt Cuellar]

Jillbeans,

That's quite a description of the gypsie....smelled like taco meat and sweaty nutsack...mmmm, yummy!

We've got our list whiteboard list of who not to allow business from, but other than that, I've never had to physically escort anyone out, but it's only 12:30 here, so maybe in a few hours.

Matt

[Jillbeans]

...hey, I'm one of those "scent" type people.
I also have a good customer who always wants Dale Ernhardt decals and is willing to pay almost anything for 'em, and even refers me to folks.
But he smells like pencil shavings!
...back to the topic at hand.
Love....Jill

[Mason]

Im looking forward to it!!! so very very much! (see my "Deadbeats" thread)

I can hardly contain myself!

[Gino]

Hm-m-m-m-m..............

Let me see, which story do I start with first.

Yes.

Lots.

:Oops:... and I've been thrown out of places too.... mostly bars :thumb:

[kgirl]

Hm-m-m-m-m..............

Let me see, which story do I start with first.

Yes.

Lots.

:Oops:... and I've been thrown out of places too.... mostly bars :thumb:

I've been thrown out of a bank....and a bar :tongue:

[mystysue]

Its been about 8 or 9 months ago.. Bry threw a guy out of the shop.. And it was a big order too..lol.. There was this really strange guy.. who aid he belonged to the what he called the kiss army (kiss as in the band) and wanted stickers for some kiss museum When he first called and talked to bryan He was concerned about color matching.. so bryan told him.. we will work with you to get the colors right..
so he sent us the file.. and came in.. He has misunderstood i guess.. and thought bry meant he could sit and work at the computers with us.. when told no.. He got rather upset.. and his voice got screechy.. (and Jill im not sure what he smelled like.. but im sure it wasnt pencil shavings)
well he kept getting louder.. and louder.. and Bry told him.. OK we done.. You need to leave now..
He didnt.. wouldnt.. kept going on.. Im trying to calm bryan down.. who is very uspet at the point.. and Bryans nickname is Big B.. and the kiss army guy was a scrawney little guy.. and was just really odd.. Finially we got the guy to leave.. and he calls us from the parking lot telling us if he sees any of the stickers anywhere that he had sent us the design for he would sue us.. and for us to distroy all his files..

We told him gladly lol..
Any way.. He ended up calling about 5 more times, that nite.. with the last call He asidk.. umm can i talk to that nice lady (meaning me) that works in the shop so i can experdite (sp) my order.. at which bryan tells Him you dont have an order.. lol..
He did call several times over the next few days.. begging us to take him back as a customer and make the damm stickers..

We told him no way..lol

[Craig Sjoquist]

ohhh this was fun reading lol ... the clients that try to beat my price down to much I just don't show up ... been booted out for trying to sell to hard, or trying to collect what's legally owed lol

freedom is not free

[SignosaurusRex]

Never had to throw anyone out or say anything other than "Please be on your way, as you have clearly outlasted your welcome and over-tested my patience" (in a calm yet gruff low tone) all the while, mustering a very evil eye and retrieving a 44 mag. cartridge from my pocket and placing it on the bench or counter. They have almost always left without another word. One of them did complain to the police once, however the officer taking the complaint happen to be a regular customer and a personal friend. I LMAO over that one. No harm done (except their feelings) & problem solved! Hey there "Kgirl", I once got THROWN out of "The Bank Bar" in Wilsall, Montana, but never a bank.

[THATgirl]

Hey Rex....those 44's are good huh. Especially when you just show a tad bit.

[SignosaurusRex]

Jaws drop, eyes get reeaaallll big, mouths open yet nothing comes out, knees get weak, and feet start to work really, really well! AHHHHHHH! breathing room at last!

[JT]

This has got to be the funniest post I have ever read! I once had a customer ask what the indentations inside of my "e's and o's" were, and why had I made them inside these types of letters. It was the little spot where my weeding tweezers pulled out the unwanted vinyl. I didn't know where to start or what. Passed it off as folds that just happen, but do not affect the outcome. I wanted to laugh, but was stunned by something so trivial.

[creative]

we had a lady that used to order from us, one day she came to the shop and demanded to have my house number she wanted to talk to me ASAP, my daugther at the counter told her that business need it to be discussed at the shop, she got upset and start insulting my daugther, not knowing who she was......well I called her back and told her that we do not wanted her business anymore and thank her for been so nice to my daugther.....
It was Friday.....Monday morning she came again leave $800.00 cash without asking for a receipt nor invoice and told my daugther that SHE WANTS ME TO DO A SIGN FOR HER NEW REASTAURANT and left.

I'd make her wait for about two months and told her come back for her deposit, well SHE DID NOT.
We finally make her sign and told her that it was the very last thing we did for her, she hasn't come back.

go figure...

[Urban Image]

Jaws drop, eyes get reeaaallll big, mouths open yet nothing comes out, knees get weak, and feet start to work really, really well! AHHHHHHH! breathing room at last!


Shotgun shells are lovely, too. Cranky guests regain their manners when they find you have a ready lupara behind the counter.

In all seriousness, though, a shop owner really should keep some sort of defense item at arm's reach. The life you save could be your own. Especially with some of the nutcases some of you have dealt with.

[Dave Drane]

You guys sound like you are a bit soft on a$$holes to me. I have thrown plenty of people out of my shop and had the usual diatribe "I will tell everyone what you said and did to me" to which I reply "feel free and also tell them what a PITA you are while you are at it.
One stinking hot day I was printing multi color shirts and my wife was hanging them for me when a pest came in who had already wasted a heap of my time and said he had a new vehicle out the front that he wanted a price on right now. Well he picked the wrong time as one of the screens had just dried up and wghile I was cleaning it the next one dried and then the mess from under the swcreen buggered another shirt and I was cursing everything and I told him to "piss off outta the bloody shop right now!!" The look on his face was priceless and he said "Don't you want my work?" to which I replied "I would be happy if I never see ya ugly mug again" He just stood there for 5 minutes before leaving.
The other time I told a bloke to bugger off was when I was working out the back very quietly when an art supply customer came in wanting my wife to replace a tube of paint he had bought from her 6 months previously. I heard the whole conversation and it was to the effect that the paint had obviously been left on a window sill in the sun and had gone hard as the label was even faded. After several attempts at wanting her to exchange it "for the sake of the good name of the business" and then "don't worry about the boss, he doesn't need to know" LOL. I then went into the office and exploded. I said "bugger him Liddy, shoved his paint at him and told him to get out of the office and make some other poor sod's life a misery. He was really affronted and said what a foul mouth lout I was.. and I later found out that he was a Salvation army officer, not that it bothered me because a real christian wouldn't act the way he did. It would take forever for me to tell stories about the people I have thrown out.

[wannabe]

I helped airbrush flames on a car for a 16 yr old girl whose parents brought it to us. The flames were great, they were pleased, (even tho I didn't like the idea of the PINK flames...but oh well). A week or so later the Mom and daughter come back to the shop and Mom says THE DAUGHTER wants her name in silver across the windshield and leaves daughter there to wait. No biggy and we told her we could do that. Daughter wanted about a foot long delicate script font, kinda tiny. Done. Mom comes back screamin' and cussin' cuz that wasn't what SHE wanted! DUH! Woulda tried to please her til she started cussin' so we grabbed the razor scaper blade and it was gone in less than 60 secs with her demanding we redo it. Nope. Not gonna happen. She left daughter to pick it out and that was that but we had to threaten calling the cops before she'd leave.

[cdiesel]

We designed some truck lettering for a guy who started a new company along with 7 of his friends. They had 8 trucks total, and we lettered the first one, with the promise of 7 more to come. We discounted the job a little, but not much (the guy had been in before with a different truck).
One day, I was outside installing a different truck when I hear my brother yelling at the top of his lungs, and another guy yelling back. By the time I got inside the door, the customer was leaving and a roll of 2" tape hit the roll-up door..
Turns out he had another shop do our design on the other trucks. Now he wanted some trailer numbers done, but flipped out when my brother told him it was gonna be $500 plus the price of the numbers. He told him the $500 should cover the cost of designing the logo..

[Jackpine]

Yes I have and I'm sure there will be more.

[gvgraphics]

I haven't had to throw anybody out but have accidentally misplaced their phone number....

[SignosaurusRex]

I haven't had to throw anybody out but have accidentally misplaced their phone number....
Accidentally? Yah sure! LOL

[kgirl]

"Kgirl", I once got THROWN out of "The Bank Bar" in Wilsall, Montana, but never a bank.

weeeellll....there was a first time for everything....uhhhhh

[SignosaurusRex]

weeeellll....there was a first time for everything....uhhhhh
You must have wanted $$$, rather than make a deposit. Been there, got the T-shirt & the video, BURNED them both and don't want anymore, however I've got reservations this fall for another night or so at "The Bank Bar"!!!!!!!!!

[mladams7259]

These are great!! I Love it!! Keep em coming!

BTW, I always have a weapon on me at all times. I keep it because as a police officer you never know when your gonna run up on one of those whacko nutjobs that youve arrested in the past who has an hankering for "revenge". There is also a new can of police issue pepper spray in plain view behind the cash register at all times. extra security for the significant other when Im not around.

[Mason]

I keep a 44" Samurai sword next to the desk in plain view, typically folks wont get too belligerent... he he he..

[Jillbeans]

I think I am going to start telling people to "bugger off" because it just sounds so sassy.

Sue, I bet your KISS guy smelled like dollar-store Cool Water and Brylcreem.
hahahaha

Love....Jill

[Dane DeFord]

Haven't thrown anyone out yet. But, I've had customers trying to beat me up on my pricing (after the job was done). I tell em, "Guess you should have shopped before you bought". Or, "Here's the phone book, call another sign shop". They just look at me with a glazed look on their face.

Regards, Dane

[gvgraphics]

Accidentally? Yah sure! LOL


Well..............Thats at least what I tell them.:Big Laugh

[Gino]

When I was young [and could back up my words more easily], I would ask them if they wanted to walk out or 'LIMP' the rest of their life. Then I got out my 'Bill Collector'.... Lil' Louie

[Chad.]

Clients - No
Solicitors - Yes...

In fact just yesterday I threw a guy out... I pointed to the door with the lettering that states "NO SOLICITATION" he replied with "oh I thought that said no smoking"... That was it I blew up told him I was tired of their lame excuses... I had one guy come in and said "I am not Italian, I don't speak Sicilian".

HA HA ... I just leased my office 4 months ago, and for 2 weeks, it was like the flood gates of hell opened up and all the solcitors and sales people for everything from the phone book, to merchant services showed up at my door, or rang my phone ... even with the signs posted in the business park, they still came ...

Finally one day while i was painting, i was tired, sweating, cranky, and waiting for my wife to get toilet paper so i could umn ... yea ... a guy walks in selling framed pictures out of his car ... asks if im interested, i told him i was not, but he insisted i come out and take a look at what he had ... everything was $20 ... so after telling him multiple times, i had art to fill my walls as i am a designer, i finally had enough, i lay my paint roller gently in the tray, and "agree to go look" i kindly open the door for him with him thinking i am to follow, and close and lock the door behind him ... what does he do ... walk over into my production bay, under the chain, and starts walking back in, at this point ... i am FUMING MAD ...

As he starts walking towards the office doors, i notice our softball bag sitting there with my nice louiseville slugger on top, i reach down and pick it up and kindly give him the option of walking out under his own power, or being dragged out with broken knees ... he finally got the point ...

I have to say this guy had some Cocoanuts, im 6'8 265pounds, and this man pushed me damn near to the limit ...

[threeputt]

Of course all of you "baseball players" know that you'd go to jail for a long time if you decided to assault someone. I mean "provocation" has to exceed just being a horses' ass.

[Gino]

Hey threeputt....

It's not the swing that counts, it's that glassy eyed, crazed look that comes over your face while your mouth starts to hang open as you don't look directly at them when you talk to them. Then you slowly walk over towards the bat and start telling them nonsense as you sit on the bat and wobble around on it and pick it up because you knocked it over..... Yeah, they slowy get the idea and you don't even have to step into the 'Batter's Box'. :Sleeping:

[SignosaurusRex]

They suddenly come to the realization that you just might have a "Treacherous" streak and a deep need to exercise it!

[Mason]

Begining today my trusty mascot will be hanging the shop with me..

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h184/dipietrosignworks/MrThor.jpg

[Arlo Kalon]

There is an Arab businessman down the street from me who has absolutely ruined it for anyone from that culture with me. I spent about 45 minutes with him designing a banner layout to get it to his satisfaction. When I quoted him the price, THAT began about another 45 minutes of "C'mon man, I KNOW you can do better than that!". He even threw in the proverbial "give me a better price than THAT and I'll bring you more work". (I dunno why the saying is "he tried to jew me down"... to me, Arabs are much worse.

I told him the price again, to which he promptly offered me half that amount and added "I'll pay you cash". At that I told him to go somewhere else and just leave - I have work to do. About an hour later, he sends a Hispanic employee down to my shop to try and place the same order, this time being okay with my original price. I told him "sure, just tell your boss I need it in cash up front before the order will be done". The Arab called me back to ask why I was doing that to him. When I said I had concerns about being paid, he told me "you don't what it is the hell you are talking about" and hung up on me.

Like I said - he ruined it for others of his culture here.

[Sign_Boy]

I had one guy that wanted business cards printed along with some signs. He had a logo that he got online (they did do a good job on it) The stationary was also laid out so I figured ok no big deal this should be easy....

Boy was I wrong....

It started with I need these names and numbers on the cards OK, I told him that I would have to charge him a one time set up fee. No problem. I e-mailed the proofs and estimate to him, all was good.

Oh but no he wanted to get fancy with the paper stock and wanted to be sure of the ink color. Fine I understand, so I went to his office, I should have known something was up when I saw a sign hanging in his entry way and a Fast Signs brochure on his desk. (probably should have walked away then) but I figured he needed cards. We spoke but he was not sure about the color, he wanted to match it to the paint he had not yet purchased.

Anyway to make this long story short he stopped by my shop one day with a paint sample so we could match it to my pantone guide. As he thumbed through it I noticed blue paint on it. YES, the paint sample was wet and he got it on my guide!!!

I darn near bit my lip off.

I did not throw him out (should have) and after all the time I spent with this guy he never even got the cards and never paid the setup fee but did manage to give me the shaft.

I try not to get thrown out of bars, I respect them way to much!:beer

[Bogie]

Maybe file under "Tips and Tricks"
=========================

Underneath the "White Board of Evil Customers," line up a row of shotgun shells, with their names neatly indivdually lettered.

[SignosaurusRex]

44 mag. cartridges (no powder of course) take up less space. After 35 + years the collection grows!

[Ken]

I do not have "walk-ins". As a home-based, word-of-mouth- business I am fortunate enough not to have to deal with this. E-mail, telephone, fax and on-site consultation pretty much does it. Still learning to just say NO..
But last summer I said no to an established client that wanted somethin "right now"..and I see that I lost a fair bit of business 'cause of that.
Oh well...get in line..
Cheers!
Ken

[Bogie]

Load 'em with W296 or H110... They work better that way...

[Signguyno1]

In the last 50 years, i've had two that I can think of. The last being my step son's partner, who was responsible for all signage for the company.

After many meetings for 18" x 24" site signs for their building company and finally choosing the design and colors, upon the completed signage, he did not like the way they looked and wanted repeated changes. Signs delivered, he brought them back and said you could not read them, making more changes he came to pick them up, I placed the signs out in the yard and had him look at them from many different angles and from many distances, after his approval he left with the signs, returning hours later with all the signs and one destroyed from ripping off a tree, His reply was you can not read them from a distance! My reply was from what town, distance and from how fast? He was so belligerent that I told him to leave the signs and get the f%ck off my property! And never call me again as I don't need to deal with anal individuals!

Needless to say there was absoutely no problem with my stepson and a year or so later their parntenship came to an end.
It's your business and if you feel that the customer is a pain in the a$$, belligerent, offending, anal and or any other reason that you can think of, don't hesitate to ask them to leave or to have a sexual affair with themselves.

[mark in tx]

When customers start to weasel about price, and they continue after I tell them for the 2nd time, I inform them "This is not a garage sale, but you're welcome to go and look for one."
They leave or pay up.

[gtjet]

No, just asked to leave after they hung around for hours trying to deciding what they wanted.

[BIGLETTERS]

Luckily, I've had very few problems with customers from my many years of learning the 'ways of the weasel' in the Printing Trade. Man, there is a story or two. Recently, I had a Pizza shop owner wanting to rent one of my Hwy. Signs from me & he tried the, "Can't you do better than that?" routine. I am already one of the best rates around as I am new to this area but always doing my best to earn a new customer, I offer him a few extra days free of charge. It was the 26th. of the month & he wanted the sign for a month rental. He also wanted the Declaration of independence on his sign but I managed to get him to a more sensible level of words & made a Coroplast Add On for his Ice Cream Special, also free of charge. After installing his sign, setting up his message & making the 2 Coro Add Ons for each side I went in to have him sign the contract & give me a cheque. That's when he started. "You didn't tell me there was tax or a Deposit & I usually get 30-60 days to pay my Bills. I don't have to leave a Deposit with the Other Guy in Town." & on & On! I gave him the option of signing the contract & paying the invoice or my sign goes home. He declined & I left with my sign. Needless to say the Other Guy in town hasn't rented him a sign but the Shop owner has installed a very tasty Handwritten piece of Plywood out front of his store & the Ice cream special has been put on his front windows using electrical tape! Ooh! It really makes you want to eat there.

[signguy]

yea plenty... one was a big ol woman who insisted on silver metallic on a white background! (i tried to get her to outline in black at least but no)
even after explaining to her that it would be unreadable from 3 feet away, she still wanted it like that.

she paid, left and came back the next day with her panties in a knot, saying "you cant read them" go figure :tongue:

another was a guy ordered a set of mags for his car... he called up yelling that the mags didn't stick and he wanted his $$ back... i told him to bring em in and we'd gladly replace them, if it was a defective product. he came driving up in.....a corvette lol

[BlueRidgeFabrication]

Ha! Ha! This is a great thread. I have never really thrown anyone out, but have wanted to. However, I wish I could throw myself out sometimes though! And go and take a day off! :smile:

[stoner]

I had a guy just show up one Saturday morning with a large stone he wanted sandblasted as a grave marker. I said OK, but it is not of good quality for this, but if we stay with just a name and date it should work. He said my sister ( here it comes what we all love to hear) wants to design it. I gave him my email and said have her email me the design when she is done, but keep it simple text, no graphics.

After 3 weeks of email and phone calls she sends my the design over 200 letters and 3 graphics, small graphics for a stone that is more like a large piece of gravel. That night he stops in and starts with "what does it take to get a simple stone done and when WILL you have it done!" I said the design just got here 4 hours ago and it will not work, he said he would "just take it down the road to someone who knew what they where doing" I jumped the counter and said "LETS LOAD THAT MOTHER##&K*& UP so you can get the ##&k out of my shop" ... My son-in-law was there picking up some address markers for a brick side job and was shocked at how I handled this jerk. I do not take this from anyone.

Over the years I have thrown a few out the door... I am here to provide a service, and it is not to be their whipping boy!

[Dave Drane]

I had a guy just show up one Saturday morning with a large stone he wanted sandblasted as a grave marker. I said OK, but it is not of good quality for this, but if we stay with just a name and date it should work. He said my sister ( here it comes what we all love to hear) wants to design it. I gave him my email and said have her email me the design when she is done, but keep it simple text, no graphics.

After 3 weeks of email and phone calls she sends my the design over 200 letters and 3 graphics, small graphics for a stone that is more like a large piece of gravel. That night he stops in and starts with "what does it take to get a simple stone done and when WILL you have it done!" I said the design just got here 4 hours ago and it will not work, he said he would "just take it down the road to someone who knew what they where doing" I jumped the counter and said "LETS LOAD THAT MOTHER##&K*& UP so you can get the ##&k out of my shop" ... My son-in-law was there picking up some address markers for a brick side job and was shocked at how I handled this jerk. I do not take this from anyone.

Over the years I have thrown a few out the door... I am here to provide a service, and it is not to be their whipping boy!

A man after my own heart. You tell em' mate!!:thumb:

[os101king]

We designed some truck lettering for a guy who started a new company along with 7 of his friends. They had 8 trucks total, and we lettered the first one, with the promise of 7 more to come. We discounted the job a little, but not much (the guy had been in before with a different truck).
One day, I was outside installing a different truck when I hear my brother yelling at the top of his lungs, and another guy yelling back. By the time I got inside the door, the customer was leaving and a roll of 2" tape hit the roll-up door..
Turns out he had another shop do our design on the other trucks. Now he wanted some trailer numbers done, but flipped out when my brother told him it was gonna be $500 plus the price of the numbers. He told him the $500 should cover the cost of designing the logo..


oh yeah, that's the best one. customers who go behind your back with a design you did but didn't charge/release to them... especially when you give them a hook price to get the jobs in the door. happened to me with one towing company in specific, just basically put the word out that he wasn't welcome and I don't see him anymore. only a couple guys in the area on my level design-wise, so I just don't give out designs on disc or paper until they're asked and paid for in total. actually happened to the guy i used to work for.

get this one. did a design in cooperation with a Berkeley Township (NJ) police officer. He brought us in 60% complete sketches of what they wanted the cars to look like. Easy, we went over the designs, digitized and re-proofed, adding colors. They loved the designs, but because of budget concerns they purchased the kits and had the shop monkey at their garage put them on. Needless to say he sold a few "extra" sides because the worker didn't quite have the hang of "straight".

Fast foward a few years. The orders stop coming for a couple months (usually a car a month or so somebody would bang up and need new decals) and then a visit. From a couple DETECTIVES from Berkeley. Here's where it gets good. They claim that the guy is LEGALLY BOUND TO RELEASE ALL ARTWORK DIGITALLY TO THEM!!!!! He got no request from anyone on the force, and had made the agreement in the beginning that the artwork was the property of his company. He had it in writing, but the 'detectives' (barney fife and his cousin billy bob I believe) simply didn't acknowledge this. They continued to harass him for a few weeks on this point until the guy had to go through higher up channels and give them the opportunity to buy the design outright. They finally agreed, but of course they denied that anyone was at his shop in the first place to demand it from him..... what a surprise.

Here's the best part. Some clown in the roads dept thought it would be a good idea to print the cars in-house... now the cars my buddy did are 3-5 years old, edge printed & cleared on 3M reflective, and fading just a little. The cars bozo did in their garage turned from maroon & blue to robin's egg and pink in a year. Last laugh...

[os101king]

yea plenty... one was a big ol woman who insisted on silver metallic on a white background! (i tried to get her to outline in black at least but no)
even after explaining to her that it would be unreadable from 3 feet away, she still wanted it like that.

she paid, left and came back the next day with her panties in a knot, saying "you cant read them" go figure :tongue:

another was a guy ordered a set of mags for his car... he called up yelling that the mags didn't stick and he wanted his $$ back... i told him to bring em in and we'd gladly replace them, if it was a defective product. he came driving up in.....a corvette lol


HAHAHAHA!!!!! Same thing, substitue LAND ROVER for the 'vette. Aluminum sticks about as well as fiberglass. This guy was cool about it, used them on another vehicle. I ask now.

[gpzjack]

I'm 6'1" 270ish...its not an issue

[GXSignCo]

I had a guy just show up one Saturday morning with a large stone he wanted sandblasted as a grave marker. I said OK, but it is not of good quality for this, but if we stay with just a name and date it should work. He said my sister ( here it comes what we all love to hear) wants to design it. I gave him my email and said have her email me the design when she is done, but keep it simple text, no graphics.

After 3 weeks of email and phone calls she sends my the design over 200 letters and 3 graphics, small graphics for a stone that is more like a large piece of gravel. That night he stops in and starts with "what does it take to get a simple stone done and when WILL you have it done!" I said the design just got here 4 hours ago and it will not work, he said he would "just take it down the road to someone who knew what they where doing" I jumped the counter and said "LETS LOAD THAT MOTHER##&K*& UP so you can get the ##&k out of my shop" ... My son-in-law was there picking up some address markers for a brick side job and was shocked at how I handled this jerk. I do not take this from anyone.

Over the years I have thrown a few out the door... I am here to provide a service, and it is not to be their whipping boy!

Love it, just love it!!!

[Replicator]

I had a guy just show up one Saturday morning with a large stone he wanted sandblasted as a grave marker. I said OK, but it is not of good quality for this, but if we stay with just a name and date it should work. He said my sister ( here it comes what we all love to hear) wants to design it. I gave him my email and said have her email me the design when she is done, but keep it simple text, no graphics.

After 3 weeks of email and phone calls she sends my the design over 200 letters and 3 graphics, small graphics for a stone that is more like a large piece of gravel. That night he stops in and starts with "what does it take to get a simple stone done and when WILL you have it done!" I said the design just got here 4 hours ago and it will not work, he said he would "just take it down the road to someone who knew what they where doing" I jumped the counter and said "LETS LOAD THAT MOTHER##&K*& UP so you can get the ##&k out of my shop" ... My son-in-law was there picking up some address markers for a brick side job and was shocked at how I handled this jerk. I do not take this from anyone.

Over the years I have thrown a few out the door... I am here to provide a service, and it is not to be their whipping boy!

Classic . . . !

[mgraef27]

lol we don;t have to kick anyone out but we also keep the front door of the office locked to keep joe public from knockin' and the only way it's getting opened is if someone has a appointment.

Hell of a policy there..... do you sell just over then Internet?

[weaselboogie]

It's like a private club or a speakeasy. Is there a secret knock?

[Gordy Saunders]

I' ve never thrown anyone out, but I had a cheap customer that ticked me off. I said, "Well, you must want a free sign!" He replies, "Yes." So I held up my bird finger and said, "Here you go."

[Gordy Saunders]

I've never thrown anyone out, but I had this really cheap customer that ticked me off one time.
I said, "You must want a free sign!"
He replied, "Yes."
So I held up my bird finger, and said, "Here you go!"