Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

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mobilesmartrepairsys

Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by mobilesmartrepairsys »

Hi Everyone - I have been in the industry for around six months and have been very successful thus far on impact damage repairs. Wanting to provide a more diverse range of products I invested in a glass polishing kit as the potential revenue was quite appealing(£50 per hour). I practices on an old screen and to be honest I think its a complete waste of time, even on very light damage created by faulty wiper blades I was unable to improve the appearance of the glass, I followed all the procedures but the results were poor!
Am I doing something wrong, using the wrong equipment (Esprit Scratch Away), or is it just an in-effective method?
Your wisdom, guidance & general experianced advice would be very much appreciated.

1st post as a newbie to this forum
jasonsresin
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Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by jasonsresin »

hi noobie. good question. i experimented with scratch removal from blades and did didly squat to it. need training on that one i suppose.
Chips be-gone

Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by Chips be-gone »

You can look up all kinds of scratch removal systems on the web or on YouTube.

side note: I do not work for or sell glass polishing products.
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Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by Kgobin »

mobilesmartrepairsys,

welcome to the forum and it is very good to hear that you have been successful thus far.
Korey Gobin
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Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by Frank EU »

Hi mobilesmartrepairsys, the system you are using may have it's place in the market, but I have never understood how that has happened. To be clear and direct; I am involved in scratch repair (not just as a service) and the product you are currently using just sucks. It is removing stock glass, causing optical distortion.
No, do not worry, you probably do not make any mistake yourself, it is a system related problem. Again; you have invested in the wrong stuff. BTW; it is not an Esprit product, it is privately labelled for them. The original name is Scratch A Way. It leads you all the way to Tilburg, The Netherlands.
mobilesmartrepairsys

Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by mobilesmartrepairsys »

Thanks Frank EU, as I expected it's down to the quality of the equipment. As is always the case deciding on which kit to invest in is always a difficult one, when I purchased the kit I was un-aware of this forum - obviously I will ask the question on the forum before investing in any new equipment - YOU LIVE AND LEARN!
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Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by Frank EU »

Hi mobielsmartrepairsys, I have just visited your website. Wow, you have a lot of services on offer. How long are you in this business for? And where did you pick up your windscreen repair experience? Are you one of the (many) former GW UK, Chips Away or Optic Kleer guys? Where did you get your training and are you happy with the repair system you are currently using? Sorry for all the questions, but I used to travel a lot all over the UK and do happen to know some 65+ windscreen repair guys in your country and I am just curious :P
mobilesmartrepairsys

Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by mobilesmartrepairsys »

Frank EU - Yes I am a former GW technician, I was taken in by their fancy sales pitch 50/50 my arse! After a very short period I realised I should be doing WSR as part of my own business. Luckily GW made a mistake and as a result I held them in breach of my license and served notice on them. They tried to beat me up by instructing their solicitors but I won and they backed down.
I started off with the WSR kit, I purchased an Esprit Elite 12v Professional kit and have managed very well with it, it's very basic but when used properly is very effective (especially on crack repairs). I then invested £25k and bought the other systems detailed on my website, I went to a MVRA approved training centre to do the paint repairs and at first made a real mess of the practice bumpers, after many many hours practicing and tweeking the techniques the results were fantastic.
I have picked up a lot of new business on commercial fleets as prior to setting my own company up I was a Logitics & Commercial manager serving the automotive industry so I have a lot of contacts. I have targeted the big fleets and perform monthly fleet inspections and pick up a lot of work using this method. I also specialise in vehicle detailing and valeting and have a lot of fleet and private customers.
As yet I have not looked at direct insurance work as I am very busy with what I have but in the near future hope to bring someone else on board to share the workload because im knackered, but you only get out what you put in.
I am thinking of buying the Delta equipment at the moment as I need some more kits to service my biggest customer which has a turnover of £85k pa on windscreen repairs, yes it's a really good account and I have worked my nuts off to get it! But the customer can see I am very professional, perform excellent repairs, and turn up on time every time so they are happy to trade with me. I do all my own accounts, I print all my own promotional material, business cards, I designed the website and I host it myself. If anyone wants any help on any of these areas I would be more than happy to help. I have a planned growth plan moving forward and think we are lucky to be in an industry where economic decline will not result dminishing sales, I cant see any sighns of it anyway as im booked up for weeks in advance.

Sorry to waffle but I love this business and am particulary passionate about it now I have my own business!

Good luck to all you guys just starting up, dont get tied in to the GW franchise. it's not what it seems and all that will happen is you will work your butt off and they will make all the money, once your in they have you by the short and curlies and if you decide to leave there is a caviat in the contract the prevents you from staying in the industry servicing GW clients past or present, if you breach this they will set their solicitors off after you - BE WARNED!
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Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by Frank EU »

Oops, I was involved with GW as well. I won't be placing comments on your decision to leave them, that is up to you, but you certainly are on the good way starting a business on your own, do not fear and carry on. However, it must be said that I had a proper technical training (thanks Gary) and I still feel that there are benefits in joining a nationwide network, but regretfully GW is not the solution. Many others left before you -and many will leave after you. Is it a learning curve for the UK company? I doubt it, it's just not a proper concept to pay at least 50% of your total revenues to their head office. They call it the 50/50 program, but in real life, people are paying up to 60% which is pretty unbalanced right?

It is NOT all that complicated to stop working with them, and you can even continue to service the customers, but the solution 'how to' is not going to be published here in public on this very board. Just send me an email and we may pick it up from there -or not.

To the USA guys; GW in Europe is not connected to the USA business, the UK office is independent and offering a franchise like business -but they do work with the GW system and most of their materials (but not all). Also, the UK blocked the free distribution of all GW products into the EU markets, in fact they have formed a monopoly which is illegal in the EU. That is a very silly thing to do because our competitors in the EU are being supplied through the USA....whilst the GW boys and girls can only order at the UK office (and only for as long as they are behaving well >according to 'the office'). All the GW UK related problems have been repeatedly communicated with the USA based company, but they appear not to be interested which is a very sad and bad thing. In fact the president will threat and shout when one starts to ask questions.... Nice! My post ends here and I will not comment on new posts re this subject here on the board.
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Re: Glass Polishing - Is it Effective?

Post by Frank EU »

Anyway, we wandered off big time, it has been great to talk with you >not many have the guts to speak out. Let's return to the original topic. Yes, glass polishing can be very effective. When you use the proper system, get trained, pracktise enough to get experienced and market the service properly, you will find that this can be a viable and profitable add-on (and even stand-alone) service. Re the DK system; you may wish to seek contact with screenman, he is in your neck of the woods, his contact details are on this forum.
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