Other companies material

[Geneva Olson]

I had a customer come in asking me to cut his window film for him. He's a mobile installer. He's the second one who has come in asking for us to plot things for them. The first guy had a limited amount of material and The plotter didn't plot his graphic right and he decided he would freehand cut this intricate pattern. (go ahead and knock yourself out).

This guy, I ended up turning away because of the first guy and that fiasco.

Do you guys provide these services to other companies or turn them away?

 

[Boudica]

nope. Well, we have had at least one occasion where a customer brought in his own colored vinyl and wanted to use our plotter. We let him, but that was a one-time thing. Normally he sends us a file and we would cut it. But if someone we didn't know just walked in and asked for that, the answer would be no.

 

[Geneva Olson]

nope. Well, we have had at least one occasion where a customer brought in his own colored vinyl and wanted to use our plotter. We let him, but that was a one-time thing. Normally he sends us a file and we would cut it. But if someone we didn't know just walked in and asked for that, the answer would be no.

I learned from the first guy and I was going to take this ones material and do it. I really didn't want to but when my plotter was smaller than the material, I bowed out. I just should have told him sooner.

Thanks for helping me rid some of my catholic guilt! LOL

 

[Stacey K]

I don't either, unless it would be a sign or apparel shop in the area. I have cut Siser for one of the shops for tshirts that they brought in when her cutter was down. If it was customer for some weird thing, I might but probably not a stranger.

I get the part..."I should have let him know sooner" - guilty of that also at times!

 

[Geneva Olson]

I don't either, unless it would be a sign or apparel shop in the area. I have cut Siser for one of the shops for tshirts that they brought in when her cutter was down. If it was customer for some weird thing, I might but probably not a stranger.

I get the part..."I should have let him know sooner" - guilty of that also at times!

yea. i really should have turned him away in the beginning.

 

[DarkerKat]

Most of the time no, they can request a specific material and we'll try to get it even if it is outside of our usual stock but for vinyl I don't think we've ever let someone bring in media aside from our contract installers who know what they need to bring. The rare times we do accept it from clients, they are reliable, repeat customers and even in those situations we always ask for more than we need (IE: we have some of the architects we work with regularly who ask for custom CNC cut pieces for "canstruction" (charity event) almost every year - they provide the plywood. Great - we don't stock plywood and it saves us from having to go pick it up, keeps everyone's cost down) If the client is capable of it, we have offered a reduced cost for plotted, but not weeded/masked vinyl in the past - worked with a local museum for years who would place an order for this every few months. They setup the files, would weed/masked & installed them - they just didn't have a plotter in house.

 

[Stacey K]

Geneva if it makes you feel better, I let a nursing home bring in apparel for their employees. I have enough cat hair for a fur coat and the smell of fabric softener nearly killed me.

 

[ikarasu]

We do, but payment upfront and no guarantee it'll turn out how they want it to - it's the same as installing another companies vinyl.... Sure we'll do it, but if it messes up it's on them to replace, and we don't warranty it.


Usually we charge them xx for Time, and increase the price so it's almost as much, if not more than if we supplied the material in the first place.

 

[Gino]

Learned my lesson a long time ago. We used to do a lotta sandblasting and on the side we did small things like wedding glasses and all kindsa stuff. Lady brought in her glasses for the whole wedding party and wanted all their names and the wedding dates on each glass. Okay. Wham, blasted the second one and blew a hole through it. A few glasses later, blew out another one. I think we ended up blasting 4 glasses apart. From then on, we only did it if WE supplied it. We knew what quality of glass we were getting and the vendor stood behind them. Nothing like those cheap glasses people bought. Having done that, we kinda carried that thinking across the board into everything.

 

[JBurton]

it's the same as installing another companies vinyl.... Sure we'll do it, but if it messes up it's on them to replace, and we don't warranty it.

We do vinyl for other guys all the time, and while I certainly won't warranty it, if I mess it up, it's on me to some extent. The good companies will just remake and ship, the bad ones will try to short you that cost.

 

[monroesigns]

If I didn't buy the material, I don't cut it. I once tried to help another small shop when he got in a jam (his cutter malfunctioned), and he then wanted to use my table to weed it, and use my transfer tape (which he complained were too small), so I swore that was the last time.

 

[ikarasu]

We do vinyl for other guys all the time, and while I certainly won't warranty it, if I mess it up, it's on me to some extent. The good companies will just remake and ship, the bad ones will try to short you that cost.

It all depends on the material / shop. If it's a ship we work with all the time... Well replace it, or give a discount. If it's a mess up that was clearly our fault, well usually do the same. But we've had some shops ask us for an install price on xx ft of 3m ij40/8508 vinyl covering a whole store front... Then when it arrives it's a completely different, non bubble free, cheap vinyl that's not even overlaminated.... Installing that is a completely different beast, and if we accidently rip it while trying to pull it off the liner... That's on them, not us.

Our main issue with using customer materials is you never know what it is until it gets in your hand... Plus if they shipped a printed graphic from a company far away, and something happens... You can't just reprint the panel as the color will never match. So we always go into it telling people no warranty / guarantees... But make it right if our installers a dumbass and drops a print in mud, so it's clearly our fault and not there's