State/Lease Inspections & Your Warranty

[Glassdoc]

Brian, in answer to your question regarding the "contract" with the networks.. its much like your current auto policy or business policy.. No matter how it is written it will always be in their favor.. thats a guarantee.

As for Splitpit not understanding.. i will try to explain it, yet again.. When I started 16 years ago,i too was doing repairs for all the networks known to our industry.. i was also sub-contracting for Safelite.. I averaged $12k a year thru Safelite alone... But.. Along came Repair Medics and steering issues.. The jobs no longer came in on a daily basis. And the jobs that did come in were the ones that "we" don't really want to repair either.. Yes, I was getting dispatched the "left overs" that Safelite could not repair. And to make it even less attractive, most of these referrals were 30-45 minutes away. Not like the were right around the corner from the shop.. So, weighed the good with the bad, and opted out.. Do I miss getting the $12k dispatched over.. no, per my numbers my sales have increased, and now i am in control of what i do and when I get paid.. And I don't pay $3.50 processing fee to Safelite, or $1.50 to Lynx.. Its mine all mine, and Uncle Sams..

[Blind Squirrel]

SGT wrote:

Wanted to throw this out there to see what some of you currently cover warranty wise. We offer a lifetime warranty that damage will not spread and pass state and lease return inspections. My concern is geared towards those that also include the state inspection coverage in the warranty. Over the years I can count on one hand, specifically three fingers the amount of times I have had to honor a failed inspection issue. My warranty states they need to provide written explanation of why the repairs fails but I never get it or enforce it. I just take care of the customer. These failed inspections have not been due to an improperly repaired windshield either; structurally they have been fine and cosmetically as good as possible. In all cases these have been near the acute area and customers were very happy with the work but the inspector was not.


Brian, you say up front that you offer a "lifetime warranty" that damage will not spread. Most of us do this with the provision that the warrantly is limited in liability to the amount paid for the repair. OK so far.

Then you say it includes state and lease return inspections. Colorado does not have state inspections. It has already been mentioned about the subjectiveness of the "third party opinion" on state inspections but I don't think anyone brought that up on a lease return inspection, the person inspecting the car has the same motives as the guy that appraises a car for a trade in. That is to say, they are going to find even the slightest flaw to reduce the trade in value.

There is also the "third party wife or husband" scenario. After doing everything is the prescribed professional sequence, the customer goes home that night and tells the wife/husband, I got that damage repaired on the windshield, honey. Honey looks at it and says, that looks like crap!

My verbage goes like this: Mr/Ms Customer, have you ever had a chip repaired before? Yes or no I still say, the object and guarantee of the repair process is to seal the damaged area and prevent it from spreading further or cracking out. The finish repair will look "considerably" better, but please understand that I cannot make it disappear or look like it was never broken.

From all this, I've decided to have a new disclaimer printed that states the object and guarantee of the chip repair is to seal the damaged area and prevent the damage from spreading. The finished cosmetic result is variable with no expressed or implied warranty to pass any state or lease return inspection and is not covered under this guarantee. The customers signature verifies that the repair is acceptable to the stated intent.

I have always used a verbal "satisfaction" guarantee where I tell the customer that if they are not happy with repair, they owe me nothing. I've never not been paid however.

I've also mentioned in the past about knowing when to say no. I wiil not do "severe" combos or stars anywhere close to the drivers line of sight. This for me is about 2/3 of the wiper sweep. I'm also very choosy about doing repairs on high end cars. Unless I'm sure it's the type and location of a break that will minimize the risk of dealing with a "nitpicky" customer.

[StarQuest]

Dave M and SGT,

I totally agree with your warranty agreements between you and the customer but the real question is, will the networks honor them? I've found out in the past they won't! If they choose to back charge you for any reason, they will regardless of your signed invoice with insured. Can you take customer to small claims and win with this signed invoice? Most likely you could, but for $50 is it worth it?

I ran into a situation over a year ago where I repaired a bullseye in the lower painted frit area (99.9% undetectable) While providing this repair I also noticed a previous one that had been done by another company and explained to the customer I cannot warranty their work for a lease return and noted it on my invoice. They still requested that I repaired the new one. Well upon lease return the previous repair failed inspection and I was charged back by network for the one I provided that wasn't even found. Was I upset? YES! Did I complain? YES! Did I get the back charge reversed? NO I didn't! If your signed up with a network expect this to happen. That's how they do business!

[Blind Squirrel]

So, where does the 800 lb gorilla sit?

[splitpit]

Thank you for your explanation Glassdoc but I'd say your cirumstances are not normal among most network shops. You have your basis for NOT doing insurance network jobs and I have my basis FOR doing network jobs. You have your reasons and I have mine. Let's just agree that we don't agree and move on!

[StarQuest]

Originally Posted by Blind Squirrel

So, where does the 800 lb gorilla sit?

Anywhere he wants!

[Daveycrewcut]

Just wondering if the inspection mechanics get a kickback from the glass replacement companies.

[Glassdoc]

Kickbacks??? not that you could prove.. But, yes.. Most garages in this area get between $40-$60 for the replacement referral plus they mark up the windshield $50-$100 since they are only paying a wholesale price for the install to begin with.

[Dave M]

GlassDoc,
That surprises me! What are you basing that info on?

[Glassdoc]

A: My own installer is an independent. And he tells me which stealerships have their hands out. B: I've seen it.. & C: Some of these same stealerships want a kick back from "me" the repair guru.. And if you don't give them what they want, your invoice gets lost, the P.O. was never issued or recorded etc etc.. Luckily, I don't service them any longer.. Learned the hard way from experience.. But, yeah.. It's happening at a stealership near you, you may not be aware of it but it is.. You figure between glass repair, glass replacement, bumper painting, dent removal, head liners, stereo/alarm installs, bed liners if they can get $20 a week from each vendor, they are adding to their yearly income.. And Safelite has a variety of pricing.. Cash price, Ins co price, garage price, body shop price etc.. All of which is below NAGs retail, gives any one of the shops room to mark them up.. So, with Safelite doing it, oter shops have to be low to be able to compete especially when dealing with a retail re-sale shop.