Nope, first outside criticism he gets on his sign, he'll blame shift. "Well, Sign Biz down the street made them, and I think they overcharged me too... those $#&^@#$%!"
Seriously, if you can't throw at least a palm tree on the side, some bolder fonts, important info standing out in 10 minutes or less, to at least show him an option... and he still says no, then tell him to walk. Go all cliché on him, give him island fonts and a sunset inside an oval.
I have a very distinct style I use for clients just like this. Takes me no time at all... I group them all together under an umbrella term I call the "F U Triangle" logo design. I know you all know exactly what I'm talking about. I consider it the most lazy, dated design element in a logo. A background triangle connecting a series of words and tagline together to form a logo. I hate it, but it's funny how clients with no taste or vision love it. Takes 30 seconds. It might have been cool in 1986. There are dozens of other layout faux pas that are still used today... like the half circle swoosh... another one of those things I group into the "F U Triangle" folder of fall backs for people who let their nephews design in publisher and MS paint. I refuse to allow the customer to be right when I'm the professional they came to in the first place. The client should allow you to do your job, so he can get on with his.
(Here's a couple from the "F U Triangle" folder. When they have no idea what they want or have something from bista print as their "logo" and clearly can't pay for a real logo)
