Architectural Plastics Inc.

The folks in the shop may be exceptionally talented, but the dudes who grudgingly answer the phones (and ignore all emails until you call them and remind them that they need to check them) are fairly dim and completely disinterested in actually earning anyone’s business.
I had a part I’d been making in my own garage for several weeks that I wanted to have run on some bigger machines in greater quantities and was told that what I was doing was impossible. I asked for alternative production ideas that they felt might be more possible while accomplishing the same thing and got nothing. I sent them one of my amateur efforts to look at on the off chance that my drawing was somehow failing to clarify something for them and they came back with a completely ridiculous quote that seemed to be more of a «sod off and leave us alone» answer than anything they actually expected anyone to pay. I proposed two more production alternatives that would be easier and cheaper, and they said they didn’t know how to weld polycarbonate so I’d have to do it myself.
I emailed one photograph to Bell Plastics in Hayward and got an immediate response with a quote that was about an eighth of what Architectural wanted. They had no idea why anyone would say what I wanted was anything out of the ordinary, and I’m inclined to agree as I also made ten more of these impossible things this afternoon with nothing but a track saw and a cheap line bending strip heater. At least I’m getting lots of practice.
I guess the moral of the story is don’t look to a chicken town for fabrication work.

The worst customer service ever. I emailed an inquiry, I called them and it was over 5 days ago, they ignored the email, then were too lazy to convert dims from mm to inches? Seriously? What kind of business is this that doesn’t see customer service as being important?

Fascinating business that deals with plastics in a manner you could not imagine. «Architectural» does not describe the quality and creativity of what they do. They helped me design a display for an antique kimono and advised me on how to protect it from ultraviolet rays. It seems they knew more about the kimono than I did. They do all the museum work in the Bay Area as well many other types of businesses.
Their work is very high quality, probably due to their years of experience and design capabilities. They are a far step above Tap Plastics, are not inexpensive but you get what you pay for. I felt the service and price were worth 5 stars.