When the repair fails

[rowdy13]

I have tried to read all the posts pertaining to "when your repair fails". I do realize I need to tell the customer that if my repair fails, I will not charge them, but I was wondering in what circumstances a repair to a windshield can fail. If I am only using the injector, without drilling or flexing, could the windshield still crack further? Or does it crack further only if you are drilling or flexing? Also, I have a friend who has a bullseye on his windshield thats been there for two years. He said I could repair it for him for practice. But if a customer I dont know, wants me to repair a bullseye thats been there for two years or longer, and I screw it up and it cracks and spreads further, I would feel terrible and would want to replace their windshield. I know you shouldnt do that, but If I were the customer, I would have wished I would have just lived with my bullseye. If it has been on a windshield for two or three years, I'm thinking chances are it's not going to crack further anytime soon.

[Brent Deines]

Well I might as well be the first one to open up this can of worms again.

First of all a windshield with a chip in it can crack at any time, so any amount of pressure or variation in temperature increases that likelihood. Use as little pressure on the glass and through your injector as you can get away with, and warm or cool the windshield slowly to minimize your chances of cracking the glass. I don't do a lot of flexing or drilling, but if that is your method just use reasonable caution.

I have had very few crack outs so I don't worry too much about that, and although I encourage the use of disclaimers, the few times I did have crack outs I offered to pay for the glass. This issue has been discussed before and some windshield repair technicians have very strong opinions about what is right and what is wrong. I don't really look at it as right or wrong, but personal choice. Either way, the long term cost of crack outs is somewhat insignificant in the long run for those of us that rarely experience the problem.

As I have mentioned before, I owned my own glass shop for much of my windshield repair career, so offering a free windshield was easier for me than for most windshield repair only technicians.

Hopefully you will have as few crack outs as I have had, or maybe less as you have much more information to guide you than I did when I started, so that when you will feel confident in whatever warranty policy you decide to implement. However, regardless of how infrequently a crack out occurs, you will still feel terrible, and your customer may still be angry. All you can do is treat the customer just as you would have them treat you under the same circumstances and move forward.

[rowdy13]

Thanks Brent. I have read other posts on drilling vs not drilling. I dont have enough experience at all to weigh in, but I must say that on my practice windshield, the non-drilled repairs look much better than the drilled repairs. On my practice windshield, I can see a tiny hole about the size of a sharp pencil on my drilled examples after curing the pit resin. I would love to hear some techniques from the "drillers", and how they make the tiny hole where they drilled, not there. I want to learn as much as I can from everyone. Hey, anyone want to adopt me for a couple of weeks so I can follow you around and watch?

[Glasseye]

Wise words from Brent, good advice, keep looking at the postings and asking the questions. Over time you will develop your style and ability. One key thing, especially with a private customer, is to set their expectations before you even start the work. Discuss the likely outcome in terms of appearance, emphasise the positives, make sure they understand and are happy with what they will be paying for. Repairs do sometimes fail, when it does, do whats right for the customer, short term cost will be an investment in long term reputation.

[SGT]

Speaking as a repair only technician and for myself of course... on the private job and even a fleet account that is just an occassional repair, I do not coin up to replace windshields even if it is extremely rare. Why? We set the expectation level through educating the customer. Also we are in a sense doing them a favor becuase there windshield is already broken and would require replacement at some point due to crackout or failed inspection. I do not care how good I think I am, I am not a magician and although it extremely rare the possibility of a crackout is real and sometimes beyond our control.

I do not think that there are any true repair only techs out there purposely cracking out windshields. So if one should crackout during the repair the customer should already be aware of the possibilities and unstable properties of broken glass during a repair. Every job I do is an "attempt" to repair until completed and when completed I have a money back guarantee in place should it fail at a later point. If it fails during the repair I help them get set up with a replacment shop if they request it.

Now if it were a client where I was getting volume work from then I would handle the situation differently.

My rational is, if you get a flat tire and had it patched and then it failed, you sure as heck would not be getting a free new tire from the company.

For me this works, for others it may not.

[t4k]

Speaking as a repair only technician and for myself of course... on the private job and even a fleet account that is just an occassional repair, I do not coin up to replace windshields even if it is extremely rare. Why? We set the expectation level through educating the customer. Also we are in a sense doing them a favor becuase there windshield is already broken and would require replacement at some point due to crackout or failed inspection. I do not care how good I think I am, I am not a magician and although it extremely rare the possibility of a crackout is real and sometimes beyond our control.

I do not think that there are any true repair only techs out there purposely cracking out windshields. So if one should crackout during the repair the customer should already be aware of the possibilities and unstable properties of broken glass during a repair. Every job I do is an "attempt" to repair until completed and when completed I have a money back guarantee in place should it fail at a later point. If it fails during the repair I help them get set up with a replacment shop if they request it.

Now if it were a client where I was getting volume work from then I would handle the situation differently.

My rational is, if you get a flat tire and had it patched and then it failed, you sure as heck would not be getting a free new tire from the company.

For me this works, for others it may not.

Hear, Hear, SGT!!

[GlassStarz]

I think telling them "sorry I couldnt save that one" will get you out of most crack out events

[Brent Deines]

Very good points, and I don't think you will have many unhappy customers either way. However, if I was the customer and I had to choose between two technicians who I felt were equally capable, but knew that one would replace the glass if they broke it and the other would not, I would go with the guy who would replace it for free if it cracked out. Who wouldn't?

I will say however, that when I first got into the business I did use a disclaimer, and had I cracked out a windshield in my first month or two of business I would probably not have replaced the windshield. As a matter of fact, although I did offer to replace the glass on a couple of occasions, the customers were very understanding and were happy with not having to pay for the repair, so I never really had to pay buy a windshield. Like everyone here keeps saying, it's all about setting realistic expectations prior to starting the job.

[GlassStarz]

For retail customers I have paid the deduct twice for dealership work they know the score and realize that they would be paying for a replacement either way so in that case its sorry couldnt save that one havnt broke one in a long time of course now that I have said that i will prob break one tomorrow LOL

[Sneck]

Quote from Rowdy13

I would love to hear some techniques from the "drillers", and how they make the tiny hole where they drilled, not there.

99% of the time I do not drill, but on the occasion that I do drill, there is a little trick I sometimes use that I picked up from someone on this forum a long time ago (I forgot who that may have been).

Pit filler sometimes has a difficult time getting inside the drill hole, usually this is due to "surface tension".

Just before applying your pit filler to the glass, insert a sewing needle into the hole you drilled. While holding the sewing needle in place, go ahead and apply your pit filler. At this point, your pit filler is touching your needle and the pit area. Now slowly pull the needle out and usually the pit filler will tend to fill the drill hole nicely. And sometimes you can even take the sewing needle and poke it through the pit resin on the surface of the glass pushing it down into the hole. I think the reason one (or both) of these methods works is that it "breaks" the "surface tension" and allows the pit resin to fill a small hole.

This method has worked for me numerous times.

Good Luck!

Sneck