HansonSigns

Wait, I'm female - wouldn't that make me a HAXETTE? Or, since I'm older, probably a Haxma'am.

"If your working too much to stay afloat, that suggests your not charging enough. I personally prefer quality, high performing signs that are very bright and eye catching, I work less and charge accordingly for what I do. I'm home to eat with the family just about every evening." Erik, I couldn't agree more!

Geeze, I don't want to take sides here, but LEDs will never replace exposed neon. We are using more LEDs in signs for halo lighting and certain applications, but we still have customers who want neon, and it is less expensive, including labor. And we don't break neon on every sign, so ..... I do like most of the led halo stuff we've done (check out the Arnolds sign on our website under gallery/channel letters). There's some to be said for both types of lighting. I think if you limit yourself to one particular aspect (LED or NEON), you are limiting your client base. Just mho...

They are costing you a fortune in lost work, eh? You must have some recourse there - is there a lemon law or anything that can get you out of the contract? Can you sue? I hate to advocate suing anyone, but you are sure getting jerked around.

We have a model 60 ladder also - the thing has outlasted three trucks so far, with no major issues! Love it!

LOL!

A cummins diesel something. Sorry!!

I'd dump it while you can - if you can. Our F650 is a piece of crap - 60,000 miles and already changed three fuel pumps, transmission gear box, various other parts that should last a whole lot longer. But our ladder (Wilkie) was put on by a company that only deals with crane trucks, so the install for that is ok. Good luck Rocco - sounds like you've a battle on your hands.

We had a used Freightliner under our Wilkie ladder for our service truck, and when it was time (transmission was shot) we got a brand spankin' new Ford F650 diesel. Had the wilkie put on it by professionals, got the outriggers set up, etc etc. Less than 60,000 miles later, we've been thru three fuel pumps; coolant system issues; leaking issues and today one of the seals for the power steering went out. Oh joy...

Erik, I know exactly what you mean! And I have to laugh when they need service on it within the year and they find out JoeBlow doesn't give any kind of warranty. There go the savings!

In our area, a licensed electrical sign shop has to have a Business License with the State, a business license in each incorporated city, a construction contractors license, an electrical contractors license (both with the associated bond fees), licensed electricians to do the electrical work - you cannot even put vinyl on an (illuminated) face in the field unless you are a licensed electrician. A permit is required everywhere you work, and you have to pay someone to create/submit the permits, which take 2-10 hours depending on where the job is. So when Joe Blow comes along and tells some startup business he can do their signs cheaper, is it any wonder some of them succumb to the cost factor? Our job is educating the customer on what they get when they buy a sign from us versus a sign from JoeBlow. We have some great customers who recognize the quality product we produce. Recently our state Labor & Industries (Washington State electrical police) has been trying to crack down on illegal signs, and it's nice to see that - perhaps - someone in authority is beginning to care! We'll see....

I always feel bad for the employees of those places that close so suddenly - and the vendors they owe money to......

Well, we also require a 50% deposit, balance due within 30 days. Most of our customers come very close to that timeframe, and some really try to get us paid quicker. About 10% of our receivables are over 30 days (between 30-90 days). We even have one customer who's invoice is over 10 months, he's been making payments and their balance due is less than $100. We got a letter from him saying that while his business has been closed for the past several months, he is trying to pay us off because he appreciated our patience. If only they were all that way...

LOL!

It's a DOT regulation that all drivers with specialty licenses (CDL's) have to be in a random drug screening pool. We only have four drivers that qualify for that, and none of them have any issue with the tests. (I get the job of letting them know they've won the PeeInACup contest). And we get annual DVM reports on all our employees who drive company vehicles. And everyone got bluetooth headsets early last year, but are still encouraged to pull off the road to take phone calls.

We have a bazillion places we work, and so have a bazillion different permit issues. Oddly enough, only a few change according to the sign value, which is the same (in my mind) as a "luxury tax". The best places to work with have a minimal fee, one for each sign. The thing that really p's me off is the "personal Property tax" we pay every year. The same set of desks/chairs/computers etc we have in our office is taxed based on it's depreciated value every year. That is just SO wrong!

A couple years ago, we liened a customer on a job.... he ended up declaring total bankruptcy and never had to pay anyone a dime (over $600k to various contractors, ours was one of the smallest). I think that the lien was invalidated when the property reverted to the people who backed the construction (the money people). Anyway, we'll not see a dime. And the guy responsible wants to open the same kind of business in the same county, different city, because he said he "learned his lesson". Unbelievable!

Bootz, we had a similar issue between UL and MET, so that's the only reason we stuck with UL.

Manuel, the process you quoted for online banking is almost exactly how my bank set up our online accounts. It's not hard to work with and I have a certain peace of mind that the bank system is keeping an eye on our online transactions. Hard to believe more banks don't do that!

Scary how easy it seems to be for the bad guys to steal our bank accounts/ id's. Good article with good info - thanks for posting it.

I live to serve!

Signal Tech - we get 'em there. No problems, they run forever...

Well said!!

I thought about my post because when I was in "town" this morning (our shop is on the outskirts), I saw a sign a restaurant customer wanted us to do. We were too expensive (they said) and they didn't like our design, but the sign they ended up with is so washed out it looks horrible. Their parking lot was empty at noon.... People underestimate the power of their business signs.

I think in this day you also have to have the ability to educate your customers without alienating them. Educate in the options available to them, the type of sign that would work best in the location, and what they can do when the permit process stalls because some officious official decides they don't like the sign. A lot of our customers have their own ideas about what they want to see, but they may not realize or be able to visualize what the sign will look like when it's done. We had one customer who wanted to have his sign done based on a drawing by his grade school aged grandchild. That was a tough one!