Recently, a woman called to ask about replacing a magnetic sign she had purchased from another company. Her original sign had actually blown off the side of her car. I had visions of the sign flailing around in the wind and striking some poor motorist behind her or worse yet, some fellow on a motorcycle. I inquired as to whether she had tried to get her money back. But it seems the company refused to refund her money and worse yet, claimed it was her fault. Appallingly, they accused her of placing the sign on a dirty car surface.

Although surfaces should always be cleaned before any type of sinage is placed on them, rarely should a magnetic sign “blow” off, if ever. The sign company that sold her the original magnetic probably made two glaring errors. 1) They used an inexpensive magnetic material not meant for vehicles, especially moving ones. The sign business is intensely competitive and some disreputable companies turn to cheap material for an edge. 2) They cut corners and I mean literally! They cut square corners instead of rounded corners. Rounded corners prevent the wind from “catching” an edge.

In fairness to the company, maybe they didn’t know any better. There are tricks of the trade that can come only with experience. But that does not help the woman that lost her sign. And even though these companies don’t last long because they loose repeat business, it agitates me to see a customer have a bad experience buying a sign.

So if you are off to buy a magnetic sign, concentrate on getting the right material. Make sure you ask for 30 mil thickness with rounded corners. And don’t let them charge you for the rounding. It should be a standard!