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Cool Signs in Montgomery, TX, doesn't pay their bills
- Thread starter Sam Nitzberg
- Start date
visual800
Active Member
Yall must have strict laws up North. I dont go for all that "Once it up its not mine."
In my business its mine until you pay for it. I have had 100% excellent results from taking signs down. For a customer to go from weeks of dragging out not paying you and avoiding you, they will bust out a debit card on the spot if they know their sign has been removed.
People do not respect others needs as possibly once they did. All you guys that are totally against repoing i understand and I respect your decision
shoresigns
New Member
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
That is actually the law in AL as well. And in TN.
I had posted the law for you the last time we had this discussion, but you had declined to look at it. You didn't want to have to decipher all of the jargon.
Make no mistake, I am not against repo, just how some people go about it.
i never really quite understood the reasoning that if "you" believe that "you" are in the right, why do it under the cover of darkness? If it truly is "yours", "you" should be able to get it any time, not just under the cover of darkness. But that's just me.
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
I have to undercut your argument here
There is one who works under the cover of darkness and by all accounts is doing right.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
No, the laws are pretty much the same everywhere. You just fail to see or just don't wanna recognize the fact, that you are doing it wrong. Your method might work for you, but you are indeed the rare one, here. We go head to head on this all the time.
Maybe this time it will sink in.
Whether you have a signed, sealed and delivered contract or not.... the agreement is simple. You make said product for said amount of cash. You work out the details with your customer for deposits, loans or whatever. You furnish said product and either ask for the balance on the spot.....or give them terms. Regardless, if you walk away with them owing you momey...... you broke your own contract for not collecting immediately. Rather than create a scene, you started new terms, which no one had agreed to. Now, in the original agreement, that sign was to be theirs as soon as it was installed, delivered or whatever. No one ever made mention that you still owned it or had/have any rights to it anymore, unless it's still in your shop. Oops, you already put it up. It's theirs. It's called by law a reasonable way of doing/conducting business. If you fail to follow your own rules, they are not on the hook, until you take legal action for collections of said monies...... not said product. Now it becomes a civil matter, but if you take it down, it is criminal law you will be dealing with in court, if you ever get caught. I know of people like you, that have played the rules your way......... and most of them eventually lose, cause they get full of themselves and keep doing it, until they go up against the wrong customer.......... and the sad part is, it's usully over a dinky lititle sign, when it happens.
T_K
New Member
Actually, he's a vigilante who doesn't care about the law. That's why they call him the DARK knight. While you can say there's an overarching "right", Batman is still a criminal based on the laws. Unless you've got the resources of Bruce Wayne, you will get caught and it will be bad for your business.
Aside from comic book characters, there are some practical reasons to repo something at night, assuming it is legal to do so:
1) Avoiding unnecessary interference by others to a legal action - do you really want them to call the cops and spend more of your time explaining, showing documentation, etc.? Or, there's always the case that they DON'T call the cops and decide that they are Batman. Also bad for your business.
2) The shock and awe of seeing your sign disappear overnight can have quite a motivating factor.
3) You get to charge them for a second install to put it back up, which recoups part of your expenses.
On the other hand, I think there's some advantages to repo-ing in full sight/presence of your customer.
1) Your de-installers show up with truck and equipment to take the sign down, and they pay up before you even touch the sign.
2) They cannot accuse you of acting illegally - if the cops come out, you'll have full documentation, and they look like a fool in front of the cops.
3) Taking a sign down is a very visible act, usually. It will get people talking about why a new sign is coming down. And it will all be negative talk. Which might influence them to pay up faster.
Never had personal experience in this area, but that's my thinking through it. The main thing is whatever you do, make sure it's legal first. Don't screw up your business further, and especially don't give them a reason to take you to court for their lack of responsibility.
Sam Nitzberg
New Member
I like the idea of making sure they know about this thread and that their name is being dragged through the mud. Gonna do that right now. And the idea of some sort of "bad companies to look out for" listing, somewhere on this site.
Also gonna contact Bassett, good idea as well.
Thanks.
Also gonna contact Bassett, good idea as well.
Thanks.
Kendal Sign Solution
New Member
My experience
I Do business with Cool Signs monthly with no issues. It is disappointing to hear you are not getting paid. How much are you owed? I speak with them weekly and may be able to offer some help. They recently sold the business so you may be caught in the middle of all that.
I Do business with Cool Signs monthly with no issues. It is disappointing to hear you are not getting paid. How much are you owed? I speak with them weekly and may be able to offer some help. They recently sold the business so you may be caught in the middle of all that.
jfiscus
Rap Master
How did they find you to contact you? We don't do enough signs here to be part of a network, but on fleet graphics installations we outsource through PDAA and so contract installations through it also. I assume you were found through some similar industry list/group. You might want to reach out to that association and see if they can help.
Odd.............................. just odd.Sam Nitzberg
New Member
Anything you could do would be most appreciated. We were owed $825.00 since 8/15, so there's about $25 in additional late fees due. I just now realized that a month or so earlier they had asked us to get a permit for this sign, and in looking that up I found that they had paid by credit card. Just tried that card and it actually -- partially -- worked. It would only cover a little under $700. Obviously there are some sort of money issues related to that card. Upset with myself for not realizing we had that info on file. So now it's just roughly $150, presuming something oddball doesn't occur with them challenging this charge I was just able to put through.
They have been completely unresponsive to emails and voice mails for two solid months.
Thanks in advance.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
And when someone sees something going on in the dead of night, what then? There is going to be more of an assumption (for better or for worse) that an act being conducted at night is a no-no. And you still might have those very same issues with doing it in the day time as you do in the night. Maybe even worse due to what people think of things being done at night.
So what have you really avoided?
Yep, a lot of different ways that they can be motivated. Just better hope it's the one that suits "you" the best.
The last thing that I would do, if I was in that position (which I would never been as I can't stand owing people money) is go back to that person.
I would imagine that if "you" were doing this in the dead of night, missing out on sleep (or whatever it is that "you" do at night), removing isn't going to be as well handled as the install was. Might be a little feeling of negativity there. Might be bigger holes left then necessary or other petty things happen just to twist the knife a bit.
Sam Nitzberg
New Member
I was wrong -- only got $346 off the card we had on file. Cool Signs still owes us over $500 as of 11/10/2016.
crystalcoastgraphics
New Member
Can you do that with a credit card number that was sent to you? I am asking because I also have a customer that sent us their cc number for their outstanding bill. It was declined and we haven't been able to get payment. But for how long can we keep retrying that number? Is there a time limit?
CanuckSigns
Active Member
As far as I know there is no time limit on how long you can run a card, however, make sure you have proof that they owe you, if they dispute the charge with their cc company you are going to need proof that they owed you the money and that they gave you the card number to use and keep on file.
Strange your first post is here to say how great Cool Signs is and defend them when they are getting knocked for hiring sign companies and ripping them off. Maybe you are actually affiliated with them and you are a spam poster?
Secondly when I search for you: "Kendal Sign Solution" there is no such thing. There is a Kendal Signs from Florida, but in your profile you say you are from Anaheim California, which has no web presence at all...
https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Kendal+Sign+Solution
MainostePrint
New Member
Busted
ams
New Member
Legally you need to have a repo claim on your agreement or invoice. Sometimes a judge will allow it, but it's 100% legit to repo if you have that somewhere on a paper.
However it's not legal to just go take it down. You have to go to court and get permission to do it. Because if the property owner files a no trespassing warrant, you are screwed and can be arrested. He can even kick you off the property with help of the police. Because the police will ask you for proof of repo. You need that court order. The judge can also allow the police to sit with you on the property while you take it down, they will make sure the owner shuts up and stays away from you.
However it's not legal to just go take it down. You have to go to court and get permission to do it. Because if the property owner files a no trespassing warrant, you are screwed and can be arrested. He can even kick you off the property with help of the police. Because the police will ask you for proof of repo. You need that court order. The judge can also allow the police to sit with you on the property while you take it down, they will make sure the owner shuts up and stays away from you.