Discussion Just how frickin' stupid can people really be........... ??

[OhioSigns]

I had a Lady come into our shop looking for a Boat License number. Its Law here that you have to have it in 4" tall lettering displayed clearly on your boat on both sides. We made it and when she showed up to pick it up she said it wasn't what she wanted. I asked her what was wrong with it. She replied "I wanted the one side mirrored, these won't look the same". To which I replied " You can't do that, the numbers won't read right". She looked at me like I was the moron and told me that of course you could...why couldn't you?! after 5 more minutes of trying to explain to her how numbers and letters work and how people read the English language I finally just took the decal over to the window and put it up so you could see the mirrored decal and asked her to read it. Still took her about 10 seconds to fully process that. That was a truly stunning display idiocy. Morons are multiplying at an alarming rate, something needs to be done.... Education or Castration!!

It's amazing how dumb people can be. I had a job like this a couple years back and the scary thing is this person worked for our local county emergency services department. Design proof was approved and vehicle was striped and lettered as per the proof. A few days after it was finished I get a call from this person saying that it's not right and that the right side is not the same as the left. (Lettering was: Line 1: D***** County, Line 2: Emergency Services). She started to tell me that the "D" should be at the front of the vehicle on both sides. Took me a while to figure out what she was getting at and I tried to explain to here that English is read left to right which puts the D at the back of the vehicle on the passengers side and at the front of the vehicle on the drivers side. What she wanted could only be accomplished in 2 ways (mirroring it or spelling it backwards) and neither way would be readable, unless you are dyslexic. She persisted that I was wrong and that it was not right. So, I took the time out to create 2 proofs of how she thought it would be correct. Needless to say after she seen the proofs for how she wanted it she realized how idiotic she sounded. These people really do exist.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

My favorites are the idiots that call or stop in and ask if you make "whatever" then ask how much without giving you any information at all to know what they are needing beyond the generic term decal, sign, etc. I usually tell them well anywhere between my shop minimum ($45) and a million. I need more information to get an accurate price.

Probably happens at least once a week here.

 

[HDvinyl]

It's like a yard sign customer I dealt with a while back who came in asking for 10 yard signs for a car show. The signs were to have the name of the car show and an "arrow pointing left" and he wanted them two sided. Aaaaaalrighty then. I did a layout right in front of him and showed him two sides with an arrow pointing left on on one side and an arrow pointing right on the opposite side. He couldn't seem to grasp the concept that if the arrow points left on one side, the arrow on the opposite side has to point the opposite direction. I also explained to him that because they are double sided, it didn't have to have a left arrow because he could flip the sign around and have the arrow pointing any way he'd like. I thought the guy's head was going to explode from the confusion. I drew a left arrow on a post it note and a right arrow on the other side of the post it note to illustrate what I was trying to explain and he still didn't seem to get it. The guy actually started raising his voice and getting sh**ty with me because he thought I was insulting his intelligence. Finally, after about five minutes of this crap, he realized I was telling him straight and ordered the signs.

After fighting with dumb real estate agents about arrows, I now warn them once, then tell them I'll do it their way but a reprint is $25 for a decal to cover one side.

 

[Gino]

It's like a yard sign customer I dealt with a while back who came in asking for 10 yard signs for a car show. The signs were to have the name of the car show and an "arrow pointing left" and he wanted them two sided. Aaaaaalrighty then. I did a layout right in front of him and showed him two sides with an arrow pointing left on on one side and an arrow pointing right on the opposite side. He couldn't seem to grasp the concept that if the arrow points left on one side, the arrow on the opposite side has to point the opposite direction. I also explained to him that because they are double sided, it didn't have to have a left arrow because he could flip the sign around and have the arrow pointing any way he'd like. I thought the guy's head was going to explode from the confusion. I drew a left arrow on a post it note and a right arrow on the other side of the post it note to illustrate what I was trying to explain and he still didn't seem to get it. The guy actually started raising his voice and getting sh**ty with me because he thought I was insulting his intelligence. Finally, after about five minutes of this crap, he realized I was telling him straight and ordered the signs.

That same guy was just in here last week for 14 signs with arrows. He looked at them and said, I still don't get how pointing opposite directions end up going the same way. That just boggles my mind...............

 

[Marlene]

My all time favorite is someone calling for a sign. You ask what kind and they reply "You tell me, you're the expert." My other favorite is a customer that wants a sign installed but no holes, no screws, no bolts or glue of any kind to be used for the install.

 

[billsines]

You know, I was just reading an article the other day stating that a person can usually communicate will with people plus or minus 30 IQ points from their own IQ. So look, if you have an IQ of 130 or 140 and someone comes in with an IQ of 80, no wonder you absolutely cannot understand what they are saying or what they are thinking. I suspect many of you as business owners have bubbled to the top, having an above average IQ. Now dealing with the general public you have these 70-90 IQ people coming in there who simply do not have the wherewithal to understand which way arrows point or which way text goes on a truck door. I'm not surprised, but yeah, it doesn't decrease the aggravation level any.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

That same guy was just in here last week for 14 signs with arrows. He looked at them and said, I still don't get how pointing opposite directions end up going the same way. That just boggles my mind...............

I hve to admit, when I was 18 and just starting at the sign shop, that arrow thing puzzled me for a good bit... so I understand why people dont get it.

My all time favorite is someone calling for a sign. You ask what kind and they reply "You tell me, you're the expert." My other favorite is a customer that wants a sign installed but no holes, no screws, no bolts or glue of any kind to be used for the install.

I had that call last week. Can't screw it in, adhesive will be more destructive, I can't stand there and hold the sign. When people call like that I just flat out say "Sorry, but if we can secure the sign to the substrate we can't accept the job"

 

[bannertime]

Re: Arrows Facing Opposite Directions; I just show them one side now. No need to confuse the customer with the flipped arrow. Way too many people want to argue that. It doesn't matter which way it faces, just turn the sign around and it'll face the other direction. I promise. If not, I'll remake it.

Oh you want the logo to "point" to the front of the truck on both sides? That's not possible without a complete logo redesign. "Oh well the last guy did it, I'll prove it. Hold on." Proceeds to call his brother on speaker phone whom tells him he's an idiot for thinking that's possible. Lol.

"I need something that'll last a long time, weatherproof, won't fade." Okay, let's look at some ACM or aluminum options. "No, no, get me that corrugated plastic stuff." Okay, what are you putting it on? "I'm screwing it between two poles by the street."

Let me get a red sign with dark blue lettering.

My all time favorite. "You guys do banners, right?"

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

What color shows up best on white, Black or blue?

 

[OhioSigns]

After fighting with dumb real estate agents about arrows, I now warn them once, then tell them I'll do it their way but a reprint is $25 for a decal to cover one side.

I keep a double sided sample arrow sign in the showroom so that I can visually show them. A lot of people have a hard time getting the concept of arrow direction without actually seeing it.

 

[eahicks]

I had a Lady come into our shop looking for a Boat License number. Its Law here that you have to have it in 4" tall lettering displayed clearly on your boat on both sides. We made it and when she showed up to pick it up she said it wasn't what she wanted. I asked her what was wrong with it. She replied "I wanted the one side mirrored, these won't look the same". To which I replied " You can't do that, the numbers won't read right". She looked at me like I was the moron and told me that of course you could...why couldn't you?! after 5 more minutes of trying to explain to her how numbers and letters work and how people read the English language I finally just took the decal over to the window and put it up so you could see the mirrored decal and asked her to read it. Still took her about 10 seconds to fully process that. That was a truly stunning display idiocy. Morons are multiplying at an alarming rate, something needs to be done.... Education or Castration!!

I get a similar problem with people and their double sided real estate signs with arrows on them. They come in, look at the sign...." The arrow is pointing left....I wanted it right". Me: "turn the sign around, it's now pointing right." Them: "ok, but the other side is pointing left still." Me: GIANT FACEPALM.

 

[JTBoh]

I had a guy recently insist on NET30 for a 45 dollar cut vinyl job.
He walked when I said we'd take payment on the date of install instead of advance.

Despite the fact that we did all the other tenants on his directory board. Using a non-standard font. On specialty vinyl.

 

[dypinc]

My all time favorite. "You guys do banners, right?"

Na we do them wrong!

 

[T_K]

Now, get a load of this........ the sign shop (from California) who makes the signs for this franchise is telling him, he hasta get both sides replaced. When he asked why, he said because one side will be faded a little more than the other and they won't match. Can you f*ckin' believe that one ?? The sign is only 2.5 years old and they're already admitting to a fade problem. Hahahaaaa.

I live in Texas with killer sun. Every double-sided sign fades inconsistently between sides, especially on North/South facing signs like one I replaced recently. There's no reason to replace a perfectly good sign face just because a separate one was damaged. Correction: there is a good reason --> I want to make more money off of the customer, so adding a tiny bit of labor and double the product sounds really good.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I usually quote one face and two... My quote for two is usually only like 15-20% more. I do that so if they remember how much both cost, they won't look at my one panel cost and think I'm crazy. It's like nothing to add a second panel when your already doing the job.

 

[GAC05]

Had a dealer send me a layout for their shuttle van. Just the driver's side & rear in the mock up.
They are pretty relaxed and trust me to give them what they want without too many details from them.
The design (with text) started low at the front door and wedged up above the windows at the rear.
I did the wrap - both started low in the front and ended high in the rear. Got the complaint a few weeks later.
According to them, the side they did not layout was wrong because the start of the line of text was high on the body and their layout showed the start of the text low on the body. Tried to explain the whole 'reading text left to right' but their (off island) corporate designer insisted that it was wrong. They are very good customers so I re-wrapped the 'wrong" side. Now they have a nice van with wedge shaped graphics that don't match from side to side.

 

[Johnny Best]

I'll tell ya how stupid people are, just read some of these posts on here for a day.
Now you know how bob feels about some of us!

 

[Mainframe]

OH Mine got good, first thing in the morning! The job is for an autonomous car research company, they need a 4x6 polymetal panel with 6 inch squares on it, spaced PERFECTLY so the cars can drive up to it randomly and scan it and calibrate themselves, (I made one for another company a couple years ago they have been using since, but now with a lot of LED lights the gloss vinyl I used on the old board. the cars are not scanning well, sooo, I quoted another board with matte vinyl to "try" to rectify the scanning problem,

The guy shows up with a long list of requirements for the job and wants me to check beside each one and sign it.

LOL

I DON'T SIGN ANYTHING EVER!!!

IV'E WALKED AWAY FROM MANY JOBS THAT REQUIRE BIG BID PACKETS WITH SIGNATURES ALL THROUGH!

HA HA

I tell them sorry, if you lawyer up BRFORE we get started I can't work with you - goodbye, You should see the looks on faces LOL

Anyway - after many calls and texts, the guy leaves his money and I will deliver his board in a few days,
I told him, I am an artist, I create art pieces and sell them & they want a precision tool with a guarantee it will work.
I told him sorry this amounts to no more than an experiment so all we have is hope, hope it works, it's your money, you decide, I have no clue if it will work or not.
I wrote on the order, poly metal sign with matte laminate--PERIOD!

 

[T_K]

OH Mine got good, first thing in the morning! The job is for an autonomous car research company, they need a 4x6 polymetal panel with 6 inch squares on it, spaced PERFECTLY so the cars can drive up to it randomly and scan it and calibrate themselves, (I made one for another company a couple years ago they have been using since, but now with a lot of LED lights the gloss vinyl I used on the old board. the cars are not scanning well, sooo, I quoted another board with matte vinyl to "try" to rectify the scanning problem,

The guy shows up with a long list of requirements for the job and wants me to check beside each one and sign it.

LOL

I DON'T SIGN ANYTHING EVER!!!

IV'E WALKED AWAY FROM MANY JOBS THAT REQUIRE BIG BID PACKETS WITH SIGNATURES ALL THROUGH!

HA HA

I tell them sorry, if you lawyer up BRFORE we get started I can't work with you - goodbye, You should see the looks on faces LOL

Anyway - after many calls and texts, the guy leaves his money and I will deliver his board in a few days,
I told him, I am an artist, I create art pieces and sell them & they want a precision tool with a guarantee it will work.
I told him sorry this amounts to no more than an experiment so all we have is hope, hope it works, it's your money, you decide, I have no clue if it will work or not.
I wrote on the order, poly metal sign with matte laminate--PERIOD!

One department of the company I work for does product design. Mostly adjustable height desks, but some other stuff as well. The prototyping phase is really freaking expensive. You have to produce a bunch of one-offs, hope the parts manufacturer does them right, revise the prototype when you learn China has crappy CNC tolerances, and finally move to mass production after resolving the bugs in the design.

If a company wants me to prototype a specialty sign, I'll do it. But it won't be bargain basement pricing.

 

[MikePatterson]

So about a year ago I turn down a wrap for one of the street outlaw guys. Told him he needed to paint the car and then stripe it in vinyl. The car was orange and he wanted changed to silver. Wanted jams, firewall, interior, and back side of some parts wrapped.
Said guy gets pissed and takes it to the hacks down the street to be wrapped. After 4 times of wrapping the car they finally get it good enough but the funniest part was he wanted all the sponsors and stripe mirrored on the car. The hacks took his words literally and the right side of the car was mirrored. It wasn't bad enough they did it once but in the flurry of redoing it they made the same mistake twice.