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southernsigns

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southernsigns last won the day on January 10 2020

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About southernsigns

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  • Name
    Ted
  • Company
    Vandersand
  • Job Title
    Grunt
  • City & State
    Marfa, TX
  • Gender
    Male

Previous Fields

  • Company Type
    Vinyl & Digital Shop

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  1. Fabricate and install some retainers and charge the customer! :D If its a structural issue with the cabinet, maybe that's the only viable option. If you have to remove those clips for servicing, its just setting up a nightmare for someone in the future otherwise.
  2. Not sure if it makes any difference but I know sign guys and others who NEVER sell any equipment to local competition. That said Equipment trader, Ebay,truck trader and others. Personally I could care less who buys the truck.....you're either selling it because you're upgrading or don't need it. If all it took was a bucket truck/boom truck to have a successful sign company there would be a lot more competition.
  3. 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.
  4. A Lien on the property is the best course of action. If he's blowing smoke and actually selling the business, your lien will put the brakes on a sale. Once he has money on the line, you'll become a much larger priority.
  5. Personally I prefer email.....maybe more of a modern generation thing. Just feel its more efficient. As a small company you have to wear a lot of hats. Many times working in the field, its difficult to take calls and turns into a game of catch contacting the customer back. With an email I'm always responding between jobs, lunch break etc;, while continuing to knock the work out. If the customer prefers a phone call to review something, they know that's all they have to say, name the time and I'll call in on the dot. After all, its not about our preference, its about the CUSTOMER'S PREFERENCE. Whatever it takes to keep the relationship and the work. For all I care I'll send a singing telegram !!
  6. Personally I'd give them your recommendation against doing it in those temps. If they want to proceed they should provide to you in writing that you will not be responsible if it loosens with warm temps. You're going to have to provide photos to get paid....if it is stretched well when done it will show in the photos. They can't come back later and say it was installed sloppy to begin with. If it needs re-stretched then charge for it. I mean you can only give the customer your expert opinion. You can't be responsible for what happens when they ignore it.
  7. Never had a problem with Sloan or GE LED components.....save for the big batch of Sloan LED 60 Watt 12 volt power supplies that failed a couple years back. As I recall they were giving out money for parts & labor, so pretty sure they ate it big time on that.... The only issue with GE would be their constant discontinuation of product lines.....3 volt system, 4 volt system, etc; Home depot had a lot of their signs with the 3 volt system and service instructions were to add 100 feet of 18 gauge wire coiled up as a voltage dropping device since the 3 volt drivers were no longer available or made!! Wish they would just stick to 12 volts instead of re-inventing the wheel. JT LEDs are trash, but thankfully they've provided us with a lot of work re-re-retrofitting as you called it!
  8. Most of the nationals that I've studied seem to have started with that "one big break" getting in with a large chain. From there they make contacts with their purchasing agents....who like most employees these days tend to change companies throughout their careers. Those contacts take positions at other companies which opens the door for those accounts. So ultimately your point of contact you want to reach are the purchasing/procurement agents.....those are the ones who issue the RFPs/RFQs.... Tough market for sure....retail is a dying industry.....less fish in the sea for the big nationals to fight over right now.
  9. Will I get a free copy of Kevin Trudeau’s Natural Cures with my order??
  10. Totally agree with all the posters regarding crane capacity. That crane was plenty for the task. Not sure how stupid you have to be to rig a sign up from the center? I think most people 5 years and older who've used a teeter totter could figure that out. The boom was already at less than a 45 degree angle on pickup....side of a steep incline on unstable earth that had just been excavated from the look of it. I'm going to assume they are widening the road and the sign was going to be disposed of. Those cabinets would have been trash as soon as it torqued in any direction....let along the crappy rigging. Probably only had one crane, so couldn't get to the top to properly mount it...used an extension ladder to rig it up as high as they could reach.
  11. I wouldn't charge anything extra on a one time change like that for such a nominal size difference. But I'd be sure to let them know I wasn't charging.....also mentioning that if the change was larger or another charge occurs again then there would be a charge to cover for the design/layout labor and effort. You need to cover your costs....also if you give people too many options/do overs....sometimes they take it for granted. Give some an inch they take a mile as they say!
  12. Paul, that would be a massive improvement for a smaller chip that is easier to hide or fit in the tool. I looked into that system before after having a welder stolen, but the device was large and wouldn't have worked in my application. Pretty amazing the improvements in only a few years! Also, I'm on the same page.....we provide the major tools on the truck - jackhammer, welder, hammer drills, etc; But I expect employees to carry all basic hand tools an impact/drill combo set, strippers, etc; I find that tools magically don't get lost or broken when employees have paid for them. It also separates those that take pride in their work. I've never met someone who actually had a true interest in the field that didn't have their own set of tools.
  13. Have you ever done any calculations with the T-5s? We do a fair amount of interior lighting using them, but haven't encountered them in any outdoor sign displays as of yet..... They may be too bright that without a diffuser would be more likely to create hot spots..... Anyone else have experience using them in a sign application?
  14. Actually just doing a little research I found the hotel. Just do a little search.....on the uploaded photos of the hotel are the following ! What an advertisement! https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/102165977067151202613/place/ChIJjYJXwkRmVYgRFksrA1cYHp4/@34.227974,-79.799741,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m7!1e2!3m5!1s-irMLZA0TX34%2FV_xsM_zKETI%2FAAAAAAAAsa0%2FI0wTfEUE7gEsJVnh3nqI-Lw4Ee3MoCp9ACLIB!2e4!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-irMLZA0TX34%2FV_xsM_zKETI%2FAAAAAAAAsa0%2FI0wTfEUE7gEsJVnh3nqI-Lw4Ee3MoCp9ACLIB%2Fw203-h100-p-k-no%2F!7i2988!8i3984!4m6!1m5!8m4!1e2!2s102165977067151202613!3m1!1e1 I'm betting it was uploaded by either the sign company....or the guy who's car got smashed!! Snapped at the base like I thought from the photo....bad butt weld.
  15. The reason I asked is because that bottom picture looks almost like a section of pipe that was butt welded.....maybe two sections of same size pipe joined together......and it looks like it sheared off right at the weld.... But its hard to tell without the full sign in the picture what's going on exactly.......and as you said other signs of similar height right next door fared just fine. Was the base pipe still in the ground, and the sign broke and fell at one of the welds.....or did the foundation and whole structure topple......?
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