Oops! I Broke it!
Re: Oops! I Broke it!
No offense Bob, but everything I do is based on my doing what I think to be the "right Thing", win or lose.My integrity and reputation are my best assets.I can guarantee you that everytime I do the right thing for a customer, They call me the next time.When I have a choice of a service provider, I'll choose the one that will stand behind their work.I'm confident enough in my work to do that, knowing that once in a blue moon I'll have to pay.It's worked well for me.
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Re: Oops! I Broke it!
Years ago there was an old guy (no offense to you old guys here
) in my area that did a lot of dealers. When I came around to the dealers, I heard more than once the question what happens if you break one? Because this other guy broke one once and bought a new w/s. Several years later that still stuck in the minds of the managers, and they thought the old guy was awesome because of that. Just something to think about.
I agree it's BS to buy a new windshield if a repair cracks out... IF you were not at fault and didn't screw up, like crank down too hard or walk away and leave the repair unmonitored, etc. Assuming you didn't screw up, you should not have to pay for a replacement. You can bet a replacement shop never does.
My comments were strictly for dealer work, not retail. And it's about what's best for your buisness, not what's right and wrong.
I agree that you might make yourself look bad also by saying you screwed and so you will pay for the windshield. That's not a good way to handle it either.
But if you think it's a good idea to pick up the tab in your situation, then you can approach them in a positive way without admiting guilt.... just say that it was unstable, unrepairable, etc.... and you are the hero who will save them. It's like buying them all lunch for no reason....
Oh yeah,... a couple years ago another old guy was doing a little work at one of "my" dealers
and he broke a nice easy bullseye on a new Jaguar. It was hot that day and he snapped it pretty quick. This old guy tends to be rather arrogant (thinks he owns the town) ... and he walked away saying it wasn't his fault and it was broke, etc. Guess who has never done another repair at this dealership?

I agree it's BS to buy a new windshield if a repair cracks out... IF you were not at fault and didn't screw up, like crank down too hard or walk away and leave the repair unmonitored, etc. Assuming you didn't screw up, you should not have to pay for a replacement. You can bet a replacement shop never does.
My comments were strictly for dealer work, not retail. And it's about what's best for your buisness, not what's right and wrong.
I agree that you might make yourself look bad also by saying you screwed and so you will pay for the windshield. That's not a good way to handle it either.
But if you think it's a good idea to pick up the tab in your situation, then you can approach them in a positive way without admiting guilt.... just say that it was unstable, unrepairable, etc.... and you are the hero who will save them. It's like buying them all lunch for no reason....
Oh yeah,... a couple years ago another old guy was doing a little work at one of "my" dealers

Re: Oops! I Broke it!
Hi guys- I guess I threw those statements out last night to get a reaction. No offense taken and I'm not the arrogant guy I appear to be.
I have developed this attitude over years of being the nice guy, and being taken advantage of.
I'm just trying to get the newer members here to start thinking and preparing for that inevitable crack out.
To each his own as far as offering to pay on a replacement, and I morally commend those of you who do.
But if you don't even mention the possibility of this phenomenum occuring to your customer prior to your repair, you are playing Russian Roulette ....not only with your money but also your reputation.
Ahhhhhhhhh.......Now lets all have a group hug...........Bob
I have developed this attitude over years of being the nice guy, and being taken advantage of.
I'm just trying to get the newer members here to start thinking and preparing for that inevitable crack out.
To each his own as far as offering to pay on a replacement, and I morally commend those of you who do.
But if you don't even mention the possibility of this phenomenum occuring to your customer prior to your repair, you are playing Russian Roulette ....not only with your money but also your reputation.
Ahhhhhhhhh.......Now lets all have a group hug...........Bob
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Re: Oops! I Broke it!
A little over 3 years ago i went into this buisness full time coming out of the car buisness I thought I would use my contacts and get an easy in to the bigger local lots. Couldnt have been farther off base There is a guy here who calls almost exclusivly on the car dealers he has been around for years last i knew it was him,his son and another guy .
He is reliable he shows up on a consistant day and the same day every week rain sleet or snow. His repairs are as much as I hate to admit it the best i have ever seen as close to invisible as they can get. He stands behind his repairs and should he break one on a dealers lot he has it replaced for the cost of the repair.
He also does some of the bigger rental car fleets charges full retail with the promise that if it goes to the auction and is charged for a bad windshield because his repair is noticable he will pay for the replacement.
Now I have never met him or even had a phone conversation with the guy but you gotta respect him and his buisness ethics and the resulting loyalty from his customers. I found a nitch here for myself with retail and cold call in my area added with the smaller fleet people I make a good living and dont really work that hard but man would it be nice to lock up 10% of the buisness he has.
So yea if you are in a dealer every week doing 5-8 repairs at $40 each and you goof and break one once a year certainly pay for the replacement the good will and loyalty it brings will come back 10 fold.
As you may have guessed this guy is A1 never met him but got to respect him and quite honestly when I make a cold call on a buisness he services I move to the next there is enough buisness out there without banging your head against a door that you cant get through.
I would have better luck stealing Courtney Cox from her husband
Last year I thought I had made some headway one of the sales managers who i consider to be one of my best friends called up out of the blue with some work I asked him what made him switch? Answer we havnt switched Daves in florida for a couple weeks thought you could use the money. Cool I work there 2 weeks a year now ;?)
He is reliable he shows up on a consistant day and the same day every week rain sleet or snow. His repairs are as much as I hate to admit it the best i have ever seen as close to invisible as they can get. He stands behind his repairs and should he break one on a dealers lot he has it replaced for the cost of the repair.
He also does some of the bigger rental car fleets charges full retail with the promise that if it goes to the auction and is charged for a bad windshield because his repair is noticable he will pay for the replacement.
Now I have never met him or even had a phone conversation with the guy but you gotta respect him and his buisness ethics and the resulting loyalty from his customers. I found a nitch here for myself with retail and cold call in my area added with the smaller fleet people I make a good living and dont really work that hard but man would it be nice to lock up 10% of the buisness he has.
So yea if you are in a dealer every week doing 5-8 repairs at $40 each and you goof and break one once a year certainly pay for the replacement the good will and loyalty it brings will come back 10 fold.
As you may have guessed this guy is A1 never met him but got to respect him and quite honestly when I make a cold call on a buisness he services I move to the next there is enough buisness out there without banging your head against a door that you cant get through.
I would have better luck stealing Courtney Cox from her husband
Last year I thought I had made some headway one of the sales managers who i consider to be one of my best friends called up out of the blue with some work I asked him what made him switch? Answer we havnt switched Daves in florida for a couple weeks thought you could use the money. Cool I work there 2 weeks a year now ;?)
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Re: Oops! I Broke it!
Greetings! again fellow WSR Tech,
First and foremost, I want to thank all who've responded to this thread thus far. (Especially for the wonderful testimonial from Mr. GlassStarz.
as I have yet to meet him as well).
I hope we can get more feedback from others across the nation who are in the WSR business.
Our point of view, in terms of paying for windshields, that we break at car dealers and rarelya retail job, is this.
Car dealers for many months of the years are busy selling cars, and some of us have earned, or been given the "privilege" or the "OK" as it were, of scouting their lots to find work/$$. Inasmuch as we provide a much needed, and, valuable service, it is my opinion, that they should not have to worry about someone who claims to be a "professional WSR technician" comming to their lot, finding windshields to repair, and then having a "tuff luck" for you attitude, if the glass gets broken beyond repair. There are extenuating circumstances where that could happen (i.e. severe stone damage or an already running crack) and, in that instance should be made aware that "this one" might crack/spread.
The concept that "the glass is already broken, hopefully I can fix it, without making it worse" is really not any different (in my opinion) than someone who brings their car to have the oil changed, and then the technician forgets to screw the oil-plug back into the pan. Or if I'm asked to do a vinyl or leather repair,(which requires heat) and I set their car on fire. Or if a dent guy breaks the paint on a car he or she is working on.
That is my 2 cents worth.
First and foremost, I want to thank all who've responded to this thread thus far. (Especially for the wonderful testimonial from Mr. GlassStarz.

I hope we can get more feedback from others across the nation who are in the WSR business.
Our point of view, in terms of paying for windshields, that we break at car dealers and rarelya retail job, is this.
Car dealers for many months of the years are busy selling cars, and some of us have earned, or been given the "privilege" or the "OK" as it were, of scouting their lots to find work/$$. Inasmuch as we provide a much needed, and, valuable service, it is my opinion, that they should not have to worry about someone who claims to be a "professional WSR technician" comming to their lot, finding windshields to repair, and then having a "tuff luck" for you attitude, if the glass gets broken beyond repair. There are extenuating circumstances where that could happen (i.e. severe stone damage or an already running crack) and, in that instance should be made aware that "this one" might crack/spread.
The concept that "the glass is already broken, hopefully I can fix it, without making it worse" is really not any different (in my opinion) than someone who brings their car to have the oil changed, and then the technician forgets to screw the oil-plug back into the pan. Or if I'm asked to do a vinyl or leather repair,(which requires heat) and I set their car on fire. Or if a dent guy breaks the paint on a car he or she is working on.
That is my 2 cents worth.

[FONT=Arial]A-1[/FONT] Windshield & Vinyl Repair
We get the monkey off your back! Since 1984
We get the monkey off your back! Since 1984
Re: Oops! I Broke it!
You have to look at it this way,you go to car lots and all kinds of places to solicit business. You go in, find chips and tell the customer/dealer you can fix it. When one cracks out it's time for plan "B", cant just walk away with the ws in worse condition. Plan "B" should be a free replacement from the replacement shop that you need to be friends with.
Now if someone calls you to do a repair, they should be told before you touch the ws that it may crack out as it is being repaired. In this case you can feel out the customer and make a decision if something goes wrong.
Now if someone calls you to do a repair, they should be told before you touch the ws that it may crack out as it is being repaired. In this case you can feel out the customer and make a decision if something goes wrong.
Re: Oops! I Broke it!
Here's my take on it. While it is a priviledge for me to do work on someone's lot, and I treat my customers with the utmost respect. It is also a priviledge for them to have a conscientious, always available, will go above and beyond to satisfy their customer wsr guy handling their business. On the rare occasion that one cracks out while being repaired(once every 2 years or so), it is understood from prior conversations that this may happen with any repair. This usually happens for no apparent reason. If you knew it was going to happen you wouldn't touch the windshield. If you treat this realtionship as a one way priviledge so will your dealers. They will never respect you. If you think that these guys could sell these cars for the same price without getting the windshields repaired you are mistaken, no car dealer is going to spend money to have work done without seeing a return on his investment(nature of the beast). I would compare a windshield caracking out more to you taking a car with a leaking radiator to a mechanic, him telling you he believes he can stop the leak then having to explian to you that it was just too bad to repair and needs to be replaced.
Re: Oops! I Broke it!
Am I the only person that does crack repair on this forum? Why is every-ones automatic response to replace the WS. I do very well with crack repair, and if you fix it within a few miniuts of cracking(which would be the case here) no-one but you will ever know it was cracked(see my prevoius post on this topic). It could be that I am using a different crack-repair method than the others here, but with a fresh crack and the technologie that I use(Glass Mechanix) a crack is all but a bad memory. I believe that repairing the crack should be our first option before replacing, after-all that's what we are supposed to do. I regularly repair cracks of ALL lengths, and the customers are happy. Some of my best customers are high-end europeen cars(Audi, BMW, Merc' Volvo) and they all prefer crack repair over replacement. The high end consumer is usually more educated, and they are aware of the saftey and enviromental issues involved with replacement, and would rather live with a repaired crack(or should I say the memory of a crack) than with the risks of a badly installed windshield.
Merci
Merci
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Re: Oops! I Broke it!
Repare-brise,
Bonjour mon ami! 11 years and never had to pay for a replacement windshield and do not plan too!
Just curious as to what your vehicle inspections are in Canada. Here in Maine if a crack protrudes more than 4 inches from the edge (toward center of w/s) and has not been repaired, the vehicle will not pass inspection. If said crack has been repaired and there is any sign of not being properly filled......silver spots, black spots or simply too visible, it will not pass.
I will not attempt any crack longer than 6 inches and than I'm fussy about where it is located.
Bonjour mon ami! 11 years and never had to pay for a replacement windshield and do not plan too!
Just curious as to what your vehicle inspections are in Canada. Here in Maine if a crack protrudes more than 4 inches from the edge (toward center of w/s) and has not been repaired, the vehicle will not pass inspection. If said crack has been repaired and there is any sign of not being properly filled......silver spots, black spots or simply too visible, it will not pass.
I will not attempt any crack longer than 6 inches and than I'm fussy about where it is located.
Re: Oops! I Broke it!
So you are saying your crack repairs are invisable and stronger than the origional glass ??
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