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I'm going to avoid the comments above but throw in my two cents (which may be all my post is worth but..). Way back in the dark ages when signs were still hand painted, a company called Gerber Scientific came out with the first good vinyl plotter. And yes, there may have been others, but this was the first one that (at least in my area) saw large sales. The local sign writers bemoaned the fact that now any "monkey with two fingers" (a phrase I heard more than once) could now lay out and make signs. Other phrases like "its ruining the industry", "taking away jobs", etc. flew about. I wonder if the first mass produced brushes got the same kind of comments? We used to make wholesale channel letters (all by hand) and after I saw the Gerber 4-B at other shops, I tricked (long story) my father into buying one. it cost $10K (in 1982 dollars) when that was a tidy sum. it came with a whopping seven fonts. It saved us a lot of time, allowed us to stop hand cutting/reverse spraying faces, making letter patterns, etc. I was just learning to hand letter at the time, but that was left on the wayside. I still wish I had fully learned to hand letter but i digress. Anyway, channel letter benders are just another tool. In the hands of an experienced shop they can really be a money maker. Digital printers are another similar item. If you know how to use them (and market that service) you can make a lot of dough. In the 21st century channel letters, digital prints, aluminum extrusions, etc. are all commodities. You can buy an assemble-it / install-it yourself set of channel letters on-line from at least one source. I wonder when Amazon or Walmart will start carrying channel letters, cabinet signs, etc. Now, anyone with deep enough pockets can gain entry to the sign business, be it with electric signs, vinyl graphics, 3d carved signs, etc. by buying the right equipment AND hiring the right people. TBH, isn't that the new business model in these times. If you have enough $, you can get into most any business. Put together a business plan, get a loan, assemble a team, rent appropriate space, buy "stuff" and run with it. It will never be as easy as the franchise salespeople would make you believe, but people will try and some will succeed. Now I'm putting on my helmet, body armor and hunkering down in my foxhole and try to avoid the shrapnel.

I'm 100% with Paul on not holding back. If you have someone who is ripping you off, why go easy? Do you ever plan on working for them again if they are a no payer? Are they going to write a bad review about your company because they are a dead beat you have paperwork to back up? Hit them fast and hard so they see you're not playing around. That's food from your family's table they are stealing, take it seriously.