How do we pay?
We only accept payments by U.S. Mail to our main San Jose address or Santa Cruz address.
Can we pay online?
We prefer payment by mail. Most banks will allow you to send a check to us by mail from online by utilizing their online bill payment system. You can PayPal use to our email address, but we will incur an additional fee for this. Please email us before you do this and wait for an authorization prior to sending payment.
Can we send cash? Is it secure?
Yes. Some people greatly prefer this option for services like ours and just because we do not collect in the field does not mean you can’t pay using cash. We have designed our return mailer to be secure from the outside as to its contents. As well, we regularly test and track our mail to verify that cash in our secure mailer always arrives. We have a 100% delivery rate. Please however do use the entire double envelope system with one sealed envelope inside of another sealed envelope to assure nothing will fall out even if mangled in the machinery which sometimes happens.
How much does it cost?
The most common question we get is. “What is the price?” Which translated means “What is the suggested price range’. You see there is no single fixed price; however ‘nothing’ is not an option for satisfactory work. To appreciate our suggestions, one must first realize what this service is NOT. It is NOT done without your consent like others do. It is NOT done by a kid, homeless or disenfranchised drifter. And it can NOT be done at this level of quality and accountability easily, quickly or cheaply. In fact we spend around $20 in total expenses and a full hour of field time for each curb address we complete. That’s not to mention the daily stocking, preparation and cleanup at home, or the commute time to each area. And we incur personal costs, simply by being in the field, food, beverage, apparel, etc. that we would not have if at home. With that in mind most people find it is easy to understand how our minimum payment suggestion is really $25, though $20 at least covers our expenses.
Labor of this caliber, skilled independent field technicians, typically earn $20-$50 per hour with no expenses. So by doing the math anyone can clearly see why our suggested range includes $30, $35, $40, $45 to $50 or $60 for special jobs or extras. And some even send us more to help offset our expenses and others who cannot pay so much, because they believe in the value of this service done in this way and the fact that we actually do out every day and do it right!
Also please understand that: The government does not fund or pay us, to the contrary, we pay them for the right to serve you in most cases. We don’t have an employer to pay half of our payroll tax, fund our retirement, or pay for our health care. Nor do we get paid sick leave, paid vacation etc. etc. etc. WE ONLY GET THE REMAINDER OF YOUR GENEROUS PAYMENTS AFTER DEDUCTING OUR EXPENSES.
So there you have it. Our suggested payment range is $25 to $45, or $20 to $50 depending on how you look at it, and the type of area. Though some pay less and others more. But please, do not overlook the fact that you will have already received on request a world class highly engineer industrial grade long lasting curb address number, which will add significant elegance and vital function to your home for many years to come! What’s THAT worth???
How long will it last? Is it guaranteed?
Long and Yes. Having monitored the life cycle of our jobs we have found that the vast majority look great for the first several years and slowly fade over the next 10, but are often still legible for another 5 or 10 years. Most of our customer who like things nice, fresh and bright find that 5 year intervals with our product is about right. But many keep the jobs the full 20 years before renewing, a very few like them done every 3 years or so. If our jobs fail or become badly marred before 3 years then we will generally redo them at no cost if we are made aware or find them failing. But this rarely happens.
Is this a charity, where do my payments go, are they payments tax deductible?
No we are not a 501c3 or other charity. We are an employee owned company where all of the funds remaining after our expenses go to the people doing the work. In most cases this is not tax deductible. Your tax an advisor may tell you that in some instances all or part of it may be such as for a home office based business, or rental properties.
How long does each job take you?
We understand how it could seem that painting a curb address number be a quick task. And in some versions, for some operators it is. With everything all prepared and ready for application, on a hot day even the drying between layers could only take a few minutes, and the work not much more. That is if you are doing a sloppy whitewash blow-n-go job without cleaning or preparing the surface, and you’re spray painting the numbers on. That’s what “THOSE GUYS” do. And in some neighborhoods that’s ‘good enough’ just as long as you can read it at all. But we don’t work in those neighborhoods. If we have offered to paint your curb, then you live in a very special neighborhood, one where the residents like things ‘nice’, not just ‘good enough’. To deliver a product to meet these high standards takes exponentially more time as well as investment as ‘good enough’.
Firstly, the amount of preparation is vastly more due to the fact that we use several custom machines that all must be maintained, as well as must mix and manage over 10 different custom coatings, some of which are used on each curb, but different ones to match different jobs. And in order to not leave a mess behind, we must constantly maintain our masking jigs and cleaning systems. Then there’s the daily cleaning out of the vehicle and restocking with new materials, not to mention the material acquisition and stowage time. When distributed over the number of jobs completed in any period, this averages around 15 minutes per job.
Secondly, and still before and painting has begun, we must identify, plan and clear each area to be worked in, based on our criteria. Then a leafleter must commute there and distribute our printed offer and response card to each home in that area. Bear in mind. We do not paint curbs without approval, unlike “THOSE GUYS”. And we do not knock on doors, verbally solicit, bargain or haggle. Our response card and the subsequent “Work Order Confirmation” constitute our offer to you. Per response this averages another 15 minutes.
The following day, and usually for several days thereafter, a highly skilled field technician must cover the areas for responses, log the job, deliver our “Work Order Confirmation” to authenticate the job, and only then, begin cleaning and preparation. Every job surface is different, with chipped paint, raw concrete or asphalt, moss, minerals, rough surfaces etc. All these create their own problems which we overcome by having developed a system to do just that. After preparation, several layers of various coatings are applied which in total constitute the ‘white’ background. Unlike “THOSE GUYS” this is not just cheap whitewash paint, but and advanced engineed coating system that creates a highly durable omni-reflective background that will bind well to our black numerals. But first it must fully cure; so this is not a one stage job! This process takes 15 – 20+ minutes on average.
After curing, we arrive once more to each job and apply our custom black numerals using a special process. As different jobs require extra care and special details, this stage can require patience and delicacy to meet our high standards without blunder. And if we do make an error, we must go back far enough to make things perfect, not just touch up the flaw. After that, we don’t just leave, but apply an ultra clear hard shell coating to seal and protect the job. And we clean up anything left behind. This stage takes at least another 15 minutes on average per job.
So there you have it. That’s why it takes us at least an hour of skilled labor for every job that we properly complete.
Why are your expenses so high?
We can understand how some people find it hard to understand how the expenses required to deliver this service in the manner that we do are near twenty dollars. Others, mostly those who have run or operated businesses, particularly field service businesses totally understand it. A teenage kid may be able to paint 5 or 6 of his neighbor’s curbs in an afternoon with a few cans of $5 spray paint and $20 in paper stencils from Home Depot and little else in expenses. We however operate a sustainable enterprise that supports our product and has a reputation to uphold along all the other expenses of a real business. Besides the development and clearance costs and overhead, there’s the advertising expenses and cost of our vehicle even before any material costs. We regularly incur wear, loss and breakage of equipment and other costly hazards, plus we have billing and mailing costs after the job to make sure that each customer is fully satisfied and completes payment. As for materials, we do not skimp on the quality or quantity needed as anyone can see from our results. Most of our materials are custom made by or for us and we must use many special applicators to deliver such an elegant and durable product. There are many miscellaneous administrative and other costs and fees that we must pay to be responsible and avoid the problems that so often occur when amateurs attempt
Why can’t I call and talk to someone?
We do not have an office staff nor could we afford to maintain one. We spend all day working, mostly in the field. We are often driving and when not, are actively involved in producing our custom product. This is often done in uncomfortable conditions in the hot sun, etc. We must also concentrate to not make little mistakes that lead to imperfect jobs. Taking phone calls in this situation is always a burden and often causes us to blunder due to being distracted. Additionally we have found that email is extremely effective for both parties, and now we get email right away in the field that we can reply to at our choice of times when it won’t distract us. So we do not use the phone to communicate except in rare pre-arranged circumstances.
Why can’t I pay the painter?
Traditionally many curb address painters have collected payment. In fact most knock on your door after the job to get paid. But we operate our system more like a real business utility such as the garbage, water, cable etc. which do collect in the field. The reasons for this are several, but the biggest is that it is a great distraction to our technicians. With all the complications that arise for doing such diverse jobs, in the field, adding another task that requires proper attention has only led to problems in the past. Most commonly the painter can fail to mark off the payment properly, sometimes giving another customer credit in error, or even mislaying or losing the payment in all the clutter and frenzy of a busy day. That’s why we have made it a strict company policy to not collect any payments in the field.
Why do you do this?
So if we’re not a large corporate entity with employees and a large profit margin, then why do we even do this…for a pittance? Oh, and there is no ‘we’ anymore, there’s only me, Adrian. Nobody else wants to work these days! Not unless it is glamorous, high paying and comfortable, or at least 2 out of the 3. But you know this.
The reason we do this is for YOU. We do it for the 90% of opt-in customers who greatly appreciate, not only the crucial functionality of a curb address number and having it applied upon request only, but also on the fact that the final product actually comes out truly elegant. Many of you come out to talk while we work so we have listened to, and like, people like YOU. You see, we only work in select communities. So if we are in your area it is a very special community where the consensus mindset is informed, well balanced and optimized to everyone’s benefit. In these areas, we feel that our “Omni-Reflective Indelible Ultra-Sharp” curb address number reflects well on the community. You see, it sends a message to visitors. The message it sends is from you and says WE (the residents) are in control, we like things nice and when we want. We(residents) have enough ‘class’ that ‘world class’ service workers have sought us out, and WE(residents) are able to differentiate only the finest, as you can see in our home, our landscaping, and even down to the last detail, our curb address number!
That’s why we do it.
My numbers are on my house, why do I need them on the curb too?
On a clear day, with plenty of time, most people can find and read an address number on a house when at a full stop, even when they are found in many different locations and often in colors that do not contrast with the background. However fast paced delivery drivers always look to the curbs first to know when they are approaching their destination and then again to verify it. Having to locate each number in a different place on each house only slows them down and is more likely to cause problems such as accidents. But when the chips are down, at night and in foul weather with fog, rain etc. curb address numbers are usually the ONLY way an address can be determined without physically exiting the vehicle. Don’t believe the gps technology can always properly differentiate you from your neighbor’s house either, especially in an electromagnetic storm. Even ambulance, police, and fire personnel use these numbers alongside their technology, despite what their supervisors may say. They tell us this!
Why doesn’t the city or county pay for this?
In the United States, with rare exceptions such as Beverly Hills and Westlake Village, this service is relegated to the homeowner or resident despite the fact the curb in front of one’s home is technically the city or county property on public streets. This is mostly for historical reasons, but also consistent with our country’s concept of limited government.