[Brent Deines]

Blind,

You made a very good point, one which I have been preaching for years, when you stated, "Collectively, we really did this to ourselves."

That does not mean that everyone who repairs windshields is responsible for the low prices paid by insurance companies, or for the fact that networks get part of a payment that many windshield repair technicians believe is rightfully theirs, but many, dare I say, most windshield repair technicians agreed to the pricing that the insurance companies offered through the networks. Worse yet, many who complain about how much insurance companies pay charge less for cash repairs. I don't know about you, but if I am your biggest customer and I find that you are giving a better price to your smallest customer, I am going to demand better pricing as well.

Now recently I have been pleased to hear that more and more technicians are holding their cash prices at or above insurance prices, and that is exactly what needs to be done to prove to insurance companies the true value of a windshield repair. It's not just glass repair technicians though, the windshield replacement industry has been plagued with the same problem for may years.

I will also add that we shouldn't really be too mad at the networks who had a brilliant idea to save the insurance companies money while keeping a bit of profit for themselves at the same time. There may be a few that would not have done the same thing had the opportunity presented itself, but lets be honest, most of us just wish we had thought of it. And we really shouldn't be too upset with insurance companies for trying to get the best possible price for services rendered. Don't we all do that? Sure, they pass on the expense to their customers, but they need to stay competitive to attract new customers while maximizing profits just like the rest of us.

Don't get me wrong, I think there is a lot of room for improvement, but the sooner we accept a little responsibility for our own actions and accept the fact that we need to learn to adapt to ever changing business conditions in order to survive, the sooner we will will regain control of the windshield repair industry.