As a public service, I thought it would be worthwhile dropping a review to warn people before they engage South Melbourne Sign-A-Rama and possibly endure debacle like we did. A simple foamed PVC sign was required for our reception and we gave them the nod due to them being local and us being awesomely friendly and neighbourly.
It took 5 weeks for manufacture (we were advised it'd be 2) then the install date was booked.
They didn't turn up. We then chased and they rescheduled for the next week. They didn't say sorry, which was probably due to my colleague stepping on their pet dog that wanders around their shop. It was an accident, but I figure that's fair enough on their behalf. I too would be upset if someone stepped on my dog.
When the sign was installed (approximately one decade after order) it was realised they'd neglected to cut the internal sections out and it had to be removed. In the process, it took the plaster with it, leaving a big hole where the sign once was. This hole was big enough to put your head in, enabling me to do so and scream my frustrations into the wall cavity. This frightened our neighbours and had my colleagues questioning whether I was sane of mind. This was supposedly our fault, as the plaster wasn't fixed to the studs as well as it should be (note, when you lease a brand-new premises, you should always check if your plaster is fixed to tear-down-a-PVC-sign tolerance). Under duress, they committed to patching the plaster and re-painting and new sign went up a couple of weeks later. It truly looked fantastic.
3 months later, half of it fell off the wall. Had someone been sitting under it when it fell, it'd have given them a really, big fright. Fortunately nobody was around at the time and the the sign itself wasn't too badly damaged. As previously stated, we are friendly folk and were happy for it to be simply put back up. We called for it to be squared up and, to Sign-A-Drama's credit, they were out the very next day. The final problem was that it was put up about 40-50mm too low, meaning it now doesn't line up with the portion of the logo that didn't fall down. It's glued on solidly now, so a move isn't an option without destroying the wall again. This was a bit of a tipping point for me and it's resulted in me being frustrated enough to spend some of my life writing this review.
Saddeningly, not once was an apology extended, nor any compensation on our $1,300 charge offered up. When queried, we were made to feel a nuisance and their main boss man even had the effrontery to insinuate we should have been contributing to the repair.
To give you an idea of the stress encountered; if I collected up all my tears from this process, it'd provide enough raw product to feed the Victorian Desalination plant for 57 years.
Further to the above, my workmates nearly died as a result of my language causing our swear jar to violently explode, sending 20c pieces across the office like shrapnel from a viciously-angry hand grenade.
When all is said and done, it's just a sign and for that I shouldn't be so damn disgruntled. It's a first world problem of minuscule proportions, but it's had me infuriated to a degree where I've said lots of naughty words and considered tearing my clothes off Hulk-style and decimating South Melbourne in a furious Rage-A-Rama.
I don't know - perhaps I'm just getting angry in my old age. If you were to ask, I'd probably not recommend these guys.
