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Needing A Second Option for EMC's


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I have been a Watchfire dealer for years and I am very happy with them but I am looking for a cheaper second option for my customers who just cannot afford a Watchfire EMC. Just curious if anyone can give me direction on a cheaper sign that they have been satisfied with. Thank you! 

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We use Cirrus out of New Hampshire which is another U.S. made system and they have great customer service and warranty on their product - our customers that can not afford watchfires are happy with this emc - they have financing as well 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am very interested in this topic, I have been looking for a less expensive alternative also. I have been in business almost 30 years, still looking. 

 

I do ask myself why do I care that customers can't afford an EMC or even my sign, am I expected to lower my standards so the customer can afford a sign and in doing so create more work in my business doing the customer service required to do so?

 

I use Watchfire as my main source for EMCs, My second choice is Daktronics. The price of these units are close until you get to the larger signs. These two companies are dependable have very good quality and  R&D departments. I have visited both facilities and they are impressive. 

 

I have used Cirrus once for my own customer and have installed a lot of Cirrus units for another sign company who I wholesale to. Cirrus will stand behind their product, but I have found Cirrus's customer service to be lacking, it also takes weeks sometimes to get modules which upsets customers, but at least I can get parts.

From what I know of the company is that they are small and growing and along with that comes the growing pains that all companies have. I may try Cirrus again, thinking that Cirrus has worked more of the bugs out and I do like the modular concept. 

 

I do like the modular concept because it fits certain situations better, but if you are going larger than 16 modules (4x8) allow for extra time to build the sign. The sign will also need additional structure to handle windload that is not provided. I know of a company that used this system for a small billboard 168 modules per side, it took 3 men 2 weeks at over 8 hours a day to install the Cirrus sign where as a Watchfire, Dak, Formetco, etc would take a day maybe two.

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We have used Think Sign out of Louisville, KY and Vantage LED out of California for lower priced LED signs.

 

A word of warning about using Vantage LED. While their prices are usually aggressive they are not loyal to their resellers in my opinion. Vantage offers a (7) year parts and labor warranty with their displays but it is set up with a third party insurance company. We sold a Vantage display to a customer of ours but the display had a service issue after we sold it. The third party insurance company called and asked what we would charge to go fix the unit. They also called my competitor and he quoted a cheaper price so they hired him to go do the service work. 

 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. We worked hard to obtain and service this customer and Vantage was willing to let another sign company in the door because of their poorly thought out warranty program.

 

When my customer told me my competitor showed up to service his sign I blew a gasket. Here's a sign company I had just defeated in a bid to win this project and then they show up to do service work on a sign I sold. My concerns to Vantage were ignored and I was told I need not sell Vantage displays anymore if I was unhappy.

 

I would avoid using Vantage LED until they realize what they are doing.

 

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18 hours ago, SIGN HANGER said:

We have used Think Sign out of Louisville, KY and Vantage LED out of California for lower priced LED signs.

 

A word of warning about using Vantage LED. While their prices are usually aggressive they are not loyal to their resellers in my opinion. Vantage offers a (7) year parts and labor warranty with their displays but it is set up with a third party insurance company. We sold a Vantage display to a customer of ours but the display had a service issue after we sold it. The third party insurance company called and asked what we would charge to go fix the unit. They also called my competitor and he quoted a cheaper price so they hired him to go do the service work. 

 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. We worked hard to obtain and service this customer and Vantage was willing to let another sign company in the door because of their poorly thought out warranty program.

 

When my customer told me my competitor showed up to service his sign I blew a gasket. Here's a sign company I had just defeated in a bid to win this project and then they show up to do service work on a sign I sold. My concerns to Vantage were ignored and I was told I need not sell Vantage displays anymore if I was unhappy.

 

I would avoid using Vantage LED until they realize what they are doing.

 

thats the craziest thing I have ever heard holy shit

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On 6/30/2021 at 12:01 PM, SIGN HANGER said:

We have used Think Sign out of Louisville, KY and Vantage LED out of California for lower priced LED signs.

 

A word of warning about using Vantage LED. While their prices are usually aggressive they are not loyal to their resellers in my opinion. Vantage offers a (7) year parts and labor warranty with their displays but it is set up with a third party insurance company. We sold a Vantage display to a customer of ours but the display had a service issue after we sold it. The third party insurance company called and asked what we would charge to go fix the unit. They also called my competitor and he quoted a cheaper price so they hired him to go do the service work. 

 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. We worked hard to obtain and service this customer and Vantage was willing to let another sign company in the door because of their poorly thought out warranty program.

 

When my customer told me my competitor showed up to service his sign I blew a gasket. Here's a sign company I had just defeated in a bid to win this project and then they show up to do service work on a sign I sold. My concerns to Vantage were ignored and I was told I need not sell Vantage displays anymore if I was unhappy.

 

I would avoid using Vantage LED until they realize what they are doing.

 

Wow I can t believe it. I know a lot of the EMC Mfr's will sell retail and go around you sometimes as well.

 

That said We have done a bunch of signs that the customer has drop shipped in NEXT LED and the product seems very nice and the customers have been very satisfied. The seem to have their act together and have decent service if needed.

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On 6/7/2021 at 11:21 AM, flexlumesign said:

We use Cirrus out of New Hampshire which is another U.S. made system and they have great customer service and warranty on their product - our customers that can not afford watchfires are happy with this emc - they have financing as well 

U.S. Company. Still Chinese parts in both.

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Anyone have experience with STAX by Next LED? We have used Cirrus a few times as well, seems to be an OK product but their tech support is a real pain point. Long hold times and sometimes you have to leave a voicemail. 

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