Biggest Mistake...

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

Not my mistake, but I had to fix...

I was working at a sign company in Hattiesburg, when the owner came in all excited that we got a bid to reface an existing Burger King with new pan formed, embossed plex faces (and it was (2) pieces per side)...

So we sent a guy out, that we didn't know was planning on leaving. He measured it up, made patterns of the radius corners, and we thought we were set. This is on a Thursday.

On Tuesday of the following week, he decided that he was going to move back to Lousiana, and Friday would be his last day...

Fast forward about a week and a half, when the faces arrived. We open the boxes, and the faces look great...so we head off to install them...we get there, and do a couple of quick measurements, and sure enough, the height was correct, but the width was off 11". We called the boss, and she came over, looked at the job, talked to her brother, and between them, they decied that we could remove the sign, take it back to the shop, and shorten the cabinet... so thats what we did. We strapped the sign to the back of the crane truck, and took it back to the shop (about 1.5 miles)...

The only problem is that cabinet had a center pole, so we had to cut 5 1/2" out of each side, move it in, reweld it, fix the alum skin, and the wiring... all outside in the back yard (the "shop" was a house, no garage), using the generator / stick welder on the crane, with no lights....

I worked 18 hours that day, and doing a majority of the welding, I got a severe case of flash burn with my eyes, and a bad sun burn on my arms...

Ahhh, fun memories.

 

[ionsigns]

stuck a #1 xacto blade into the end of my pinky.. live and learn. I now have a tool pouch to carry all that stuff in.

Yeah SHARP KNIVES...deadlines...hurry...no finger guard on the ruler.

It's called ER - stitches and shorter fingers. We cannot be TOOOO careful when it comes to our hands. :Oops:

 

[WrapperX]

250 screened shirts with the wrong year for a High School Wrestling team. :Oops:

That one hurt.

Speaking of which anyone know a good used clothing outlet that buys t-shirts???

Gotchay beat - 500 Screen printed shirts - Front and Back - with location City spelled wrong. Worse is that I spell checked and it didn't catch it cause it was an alternate spelling - that sucked! But at least we didn't need shop rags for a LONG time

 

[ionsigns]

Started out after college selling printing. Learned early the value of proofing [walk away] proof again and getting people to sign off.

- As far as above posts with paint / hardener / clear coat...

- Either I do IT ALL or they sign off that they approve my paint composition - - and that THEIR clear out will not cause FAIL!

Re: verbal communications versus VISUAL PROOF...that banner hem job woulda coulda shoulda been an easy fix with a fax / e-mail not a audio phone call, right?
I wouldn't say so if I hadn't made the same mistake - and learned from it.
Sadder still the loss of one customer with $20k annual revenues. [sigh].

Drop dead deadlines? Only when all the details can be controlled in-house.

10,000 banners CYMK with SPOT colors? No room for mistakes there!

 

[petepaz]

made 2000 decals 3" x 8" for a good customer (big money account) but not so understanding fortunately he is still a customer but i had a spelling error i forgot what the word was and spell check didn't catch it because it was spelled correctly but it was the wrong word (one of those two words pronounced the same but spelled differently and different meanings)
my boss was not real happy with me

 

[TheSellOut]

Still makes me sick

http://signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71498

 

[SignaramaFL]

worst mistake that I've made so far:

was working on a monument sign (the insert for one) its... 39" x 92" this was a 22 layer translucent vinyl application to acrylic. Well it had to get applied to the *inside* of the acrylic, so in reverse... but I forgot that part when I went to cut it. I cut both sides, realized it was wrong and I only had enough vinyl to cut one more... (it was double sided) luckily the customer was okay with waiting, and ended up adding more to the design so we didn't loose too much money on it...

 

[digitalwoodshop]

Missing a little "I" in Vacation.....

I send art proof to the customer and it was a GO....

We both missed it...

AL

 

[Malkin]

Have an regular customer that usually orders a 6'x10' banner promoting one of his products every year.

One year he had his marketing firm/graphic designer place the order to us. They ordered 10 banners. This wasn't all that unusual, especially since it was promoting an all new product line, so we put the order through.

Yeah.... turns out he really only needed one and refused to pay for the others, and said we should have double checked it with him. (wasn't entirely wrong) I think we only lost about $5-600 out of pocket on that one, but it still hurt compared to the size of his invoice.

We learned several things, but most important was to always get the final approval from the guy that (figuratively) signs the checks.

 

[MikePro]

Back in the day (15 years ago, or so), our company did a large project for a new Video Rental chain, "Planet Video", which basically sprung up overnight and undercut Blockbuster's prices for months before eventually closing up shop. Everyone assumes that Blockbuster bought them out (which is partially true), but WE know better...
*article here*

We did all of the work for a dozen+ stores around southeastern wisconsin, and they filed for bankruptcy before paying the remainder of their bills (at least they paid 50% deposit!).... shorting us approx $100k!
Not saying it was the worst mistake ever, since our deposit policy really saved us from taking a MAJOR hit but I guess you can chalk it up to the BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT we've ever faced.
You could say that assumption of payment for services provided was a mistake buuut there was really nothing else we could do except hope that our extension would payout in the end.

Don't get caught with your pants down, ALWAYS enforce a deposit policy before starting a project unless you can afford to pay for it out of pocket.

 

[Williams Signs]

Biggest mistake...New Olfa Comfort grip Knife, one of the big ones. A digi print that needed trimming, and a metal straight edge. 3 Sides no problem. Told wife how nice new knife is and then it happened. 4th side trimming and had finger hanging over straight edge to far cut nail finger and all lost about 1/4 inch of finger.

 

[Red Ball]

104 24'' x 18'' aluminum signs mounted 16' up on 52 parking lot light poles as location markings. Site is on top of a windy hill. We used .040 aluminum. That weight of aluminum would flex in the wind and vibrate the harware loose. Had to replace all with .080. All installation work on weekends.

Will never forget that one.

 

[MichaelL]

Right now i am cutting 200 3.5x3.5 decals for mason jars for a wedding couple... i cut 20 at first... started to weed... realized i had the wrong date! Luckily i didn't cut to many!!! haha.

Just wondering what your guys, and gals. Biggest mistakes were on customers orders.....
:signs101:

As long as you didn't ship it it's not really a mistake.

I saw a stack of cards on a pizza shop counter that were an ad for a local salon. They spelt Wednesday "Wensday". :Oops:

 

[S'N'S]

I've been lucky with no BIG stuffups. Only stuffup so far was when I was installing cut vinyl direct to a shop front, when I got to the Phone No and thought "gee that No. seems really familiar"...... stepped back and realized it was my home phone number. The only difference between theirs and mine was the last three digits so raced home and cut the right ones, felt like a real DH.

 

[ionsigns]

(at least they paid 50% deposit!)

Good reason to get 50% deposit and mark-up quote 100%. No profit? Yet no loss on materials?

 

[ionsigns]

Site is on top of a windy hill. We used .040 aluminum. That weight of aluminum would flex in the wind and vibrate the harware loose. Had to replace all with .080.

Tip to all you youngsters: 1: Product and completed operations liability insurance / BOP policy. 2. Industrial strength LOCTITE RED! on nuts and bolts.

If one of my signs blows off and kills someone, I guarantee you I WILL be in court and without a liability policy that pays for at least legal costs...I will be financially dead.

 

[Mark S. Adams]

Using two 5 gallon containers of lacquer thinner as a platform for a wooden plank . . . while I was welding . . . . . BOOM!

 

[TyrantDesigner]

As long as you didn't ship it it's not really a mistake.

I saw a stack of cards on a pizza shop counter that were an ad for a local salon. They spelt Wednesday "Wensday". :Oops:

You should have contacted the salon and told them you would redesign their business card for a small fee.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

ok ok .... first no the banner project wasnt for the 'reverend' they were for microsoft.

when i was much younger i was helping on an installation and the driver of the scissor lift broke every rule imaginable and ended up the lift fell over with the basket all the way extended, it was very weird..slow motion, luckily no one was injured and i learned a very important lesson very early in my install career about taking the time to be safe.

in very early years of my career watched a fellow employee drive a customer's vehicle through an install bay door.
watched same guy cut his index finger and thumb off using a table saw.
this guy was a complete moron who would drive nails through the palm of his hand and would 'taste' all of the chemicals in the shop...truly stupid behavior was constant.

had a designer who designed a regulation sign for a busy shipping terminal with the word "entrance" spelled 3 different ways on the same sign (all of which were spelled incorrectly), my installer installed the sign and called me to let me know the problem askign what he should do....

had two brand new white coach/buses lined up for graphics on same day (they were different lengths) and install crew installed graphics on them both , did a great job, but they installed graphics on the wrong vehicles.

during my apprenticeship i watched a installer on a service call on an illuminated sign reach over and flip the sign's switch and had the holy snot zapped out of him sending him flying off his ladder landing about 10' below on a hard shopping mall floor shattering his hip ... nothing was wired properly on that sign and he trusted the craftsmanship of others..

was hired to remove and replace a pole sign that i think 75' in the air on the side of a busy offramp of a major national interstate. my largest service truck at that time only reached 60' in the air so we hired a local company with a greater reach. they became frustrated with stubborn mounting hardware that secured the existing sign and they broke out the cutting torch and managed to ignite the entire sign, completely ablaze at 75-85+ feet in the air , visible from the freeway during rush hour traffic. was great footage on the evening news..sigh

unfortunately i have seen many on the job 'accidents' happen from people excercising truly poor judgement. i used to be able to laugh at their stupidity but as i get older it isnt funny, the injuries that i have hurt more and more each day as i get older, i can only imagine how some of those ppl feel. i would much rather take the time to work safely than ignore safety precautions and get injured...i must be getting old.

 

[mrchips]

The down side...,

The correct spelling is "VISVARY" :Oops:

The up side....

Thousands made because of this "sample".



Joe,

Makin Chip$ and Havin Fun!