Not trying again. It is what it is.
Written quotes take anywhere from 2 minutes to 4 minutes on such an easy request. They were asking for a 4 x 4, not a detailed sandblasted panel with goldleaf. With today's standards and what most sign shops can generate, that's 16 sq ft of printed vinyl, 1/2 sheet of substrate and you add in whatever ridiculous price for an instal across town. How long can that take to figure out ?? $285 1-sided..... $415 2-sided on 1/8" aluminum composite. Installation is approximately $ 275 + tx. No permits included. There, that took less than 2 minutes, but til I save it as a .pdf and press 'send' I'll have maybe 3 or 4 minutes in it all total.
You simply take your outside substrate cost, labor time and whatever other costs and write them into your quote and bounce it right back. Waste of time ?? Perhaps for you, but more often than not, we will land these deals... and then it turns into something worthwhile.
As for the
.... are you sending me one or still trying to be funny..... ?? Oh, and I take the 1/2 gallons at a pop.