what would you do serious question

[fmg]

Guy comes into shop last week agrees to have his van wrapped for X amount.
Leaves 50% deposit and says he will swing by with the van Monday.
Today I get an e mail saying complications are preventing him from purchasing the van and he won't want the wrap done.
In the meantime I have ordered materials.
What would you do.
I am leaning towards charging him re-stocking fees from my vendors if materials will be given back and a penalty from breaking the contract between himself and I.
However this could be a bit of B/S and he may of shopped it after paying me the deposit and I may see his van wrapped in a months time or so by some other company that offered him cheaper.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[2B]

keep the deposit, keep the material.

Tell him that when the van is purchased you are good to go.
if another job comes up use the material and you are one step ahead then reorder when this guy comes back.

 

[artbot]

personally, i only keep the deposit if actual work as been done. even if i go out and buy a huge piece of thick acrylic. it's just the "right thing to do". if i've been proposing and revising and holding up my studio's other projects while wasting time with a project that dead ends, then that is ethically "what" the deposit is there for. if you have a very very specialized piece of material or media, i could see needing your money back and deducting the restocking fee plus an hour labor for returning it from the deposit.

all these orders are connected in a higher way then just jobs. they are your career and you want your house to be blessed. ...do unto others...

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Your contract should have stated the deposit was non refundable (for best results). Sounds as if it didn't.
Are these specialty materials you normally wouldn't stock or will find no immediate use for?

 

[Allied Digital]

personally, i only keep the deposit if actual work as been done. even if i go out and buy a huge piece of thick acrylic. it's just the "right thing to do". if i've been proposing and revising and holding up my studio's other projects while wasting time with a project that dead ends, then that is ethically "what" the deposit is there for. if you have a very very specialized piece of material or media, i could see needing your money back and deducting the restocking fee plus an hour labor for returning it from the deposit.

all these orders are connected in a higher way then just jobs. they are your career and you want your house to be blessed. ...do unto others...

Well said.

 

[ProWraps]

rofl.

 

[Techman]

This is not frigggin WALMARt.
We do custom work. We order specialty materials.
We plan and schedule to give the client our undivided attention.
A canceled order is not OUR fault. It is the clients decision. Why do we have to suffer the consequences of a fickle client. Especially if they make decisions that affect our lives without our input.

Git a deposit. We spend time to make a design. We order the materials. We have time invested to start the job. That is what a deposit is for. We keep the deposit. We are in business to earn a living and get paid to burn our life forces. We are not in business to cater to some whim of some lame customer who does not value our time or his word.
Keep the deposit. Its yours.

 

[Dave Drane]

This is not frigggin WALMARt.
We do custom work. We order specialty materials.
We plan and schedule to give the client our undivided attention.
A canceled order is not OUR fault. It is the clients decision. Why do we have to suffer the consequences of a fickle client. Especially if they make decisions that affect our lives without our input.

Git a deposit. We spend time to make a design. We order the materials. We have time invested to start the job. That is what a deposit is for. We keep the deposit. We are in business to earn a living and get paid to burn our life forces. We are not in business to cater to some whim of some lame customer who does not value our time or his word.
Keep the deposit. Its yours.

Isn't this why we take a deposit?? No brainer, If it comes off at a later date then get fresh material in. I have had this happen to me where I bought an unusual colur and had to find a job to use it.

 

[tsgstl]

personally, i only keep the deposit if actual work as been done. even if i go out and buy a huge piece of thick acrylic. it's just the "right thing to do". if i've been proposing and revising and holding up my studio's other projects while wasting time with a project that dead ends, then that is ethically "what" the deposit is there for. if you have a very very specialized piece of material or media, i could see needing your money back and deducting the restocking fee plus an hour labor for returning it from the deposit.

all these orders are connected in a higher way then just jobs. they are your career and you want your house to be blessed. ...do unto others...

Awesome post

You can only judge character so much. If you feel he is being genuine then you got to do what you can do. Most likely shame will keep him from ever being your customer again but doing the right thing is so much more important than $. I would look at what ACTUAL COSTS you might be out and discuss compensation with the customer.

That's not the way I want to make a profit.

 

[kffernandez]

i would charge for whatever skill/time/effort/materials/overhead/expense that went into the job. if there's a lot left, i'd give it back.

just me.

kelly

 

[Custom_Grafx]

i would charge for whatever skill/time/effort/materials/overhead/expense that went into the job. if there's a lot left, i'd give it back.

just me.

kelly

I agree. If you haven't "worked" it's pretty clear cut. If you have worked, it's still clear cut... with a bit of explaining.

 

[artbot]

keep in mind that the general public has their own definition of "deposit". if they put down a pet deposit. that doesn't mean they lose the deposit just because the pet lives there. the deposit is to protect the business from "costs incurred". some of my deposits are over $10,000. there are guys here that probably have $50k deposits and higher. it's a "security deposit", not cash in hand.

 

[Locals Find!]

Invoice him for your time and materials. Then give him credit for the balance. That way he needs to come back to you for future work.

 

[qmr55]

It really comes down to whether or not this was known upfront in some sort of agreement if and when they signed it. Did you have them sign an agreement upon accepting the "deposit"? What was the "deposit" stated as, security deposit or was it given to secure your time and their spot in your schedule? If they never signed an agreement than I will have to agree with what artbot said.

 

[fmg]

It really comes down to whether or not this was known upfront in some sort of agreement if and when they signed it. Did you have them sign an agreement upon accepting the "deposit"?

Yes an agreement was signed for.

 

[qmr55]

Keep the deposit. That is the point of a deposit, you spent time, you ordered materials and you put them on the schedule to do a job they PROMISED (when signing the agreement) to bring you the job. Put it this way, if they didn't want to schedule it, you would have scheduled a different job for that day/s. That is money lost now if you give the deposit back. Keep the material, keep the deposit, send them on their way. You shouldn't lose out because a client doesn't hold up their end of the agreement. I am with Techman on this one.

 

[ProWraps]

i think you should keep his deposit, his materials and bad mouth him as much as you can. make sure to leave him horrible and exagerated reviews on google and yelp.

and dont forget the shrimp in his door panels.

 

[tsgstl]

Keep the deposit. That is the point of a deposit, you spent time, you ordered materials and you put them on the schedule to do a job they PROMISED (when signing the agreement) to bring you the job. Put it this way, if they didn't want to schedule it, you would have scheduled a different job for that day/s. That is money lost now if you give the deposit back. Keep the material, keep the deposit, send them on their way. You shouldn't lose out because a client doesn't hold up their end of the agreement. I am with Techman on this one.

For argument sake say the deposit is $1000
Worse case he restocks for a fee let's say $100 (bs with my suppliers or they won't be my supplier)
Your saying he should profit $900? For what, because that's your definition of a deposit?
If he sits on his hands when the vehicle was suppose to be worked on then he has much bigger issue than what a grand will fix.

The only charge I would keep is for any time spent on the design/time spent doing anything up to this point period.

Who knows what the customers situation is, but if I feel he needs it more than I do... I'm giving as much back as reasonably possible.

I'm in the sign business not the I'm screwing people over on a technicality business

 

[HulkSmash]

You seriously considering keeping his money?

 

[qmr55]

A "deposit" as a verb, is defined as a pledge to a contract. What part of that says that the buyer is awarded said deposit in refund if buyer backs out of contract. Contracts, deposits, agreements and more are set in place and signed for a reason. If you're not going to uphold this said agreement/contract, why do it in the first place?