Bois wrote:I appreciate all of your comments. I've decided to go ahead and pay for a new glass rather risk a small claims case and its hassle. The customer will pay for the installation and the rubber mountings. I understand that the rubber is quite expensive, too. A friend of mine who replaces windshields told me that he would not attempt the installation on this vehicle because of handling liability.
I'm going to create a liability waiver form to be used whenever I receive a request to do a repair on a high-end vehicle or classic like this one.
DK, I understand you have some liability verbage that you could share with me via e-mail? Thanks. And, DK, you can close this thread. Thanks.
Bois
Bois,
My advice is to stay away from the classics in the future. Even if your repair turned out 95% better, it still wouldn't satisfy this group of people. They want everything perfect...which can never be accomplished with repair.
This customer would have eventually replaced this shield even if it didn't crack out during repair. Classic restorations need to be perfect for resale or auction value. Hate to say this but you were taken on this one. He will neither give you referrals or ask for you again. Hated for you to eat this one to save face...lesson learned. I've been there before myself.
DryStar has made a good point here. During my time in windscreen ( windshield) replacement, I found the owners of classic cars demand perfection, over and above what would normally be acceptable for glass replacement. I recall one customer demanding a second replacement because the windscreen seemed to show more reflection when you stood outside the car and looked at it
I have carried out repairs on vehicles that have gone on to win concourse in classic car competitions, so to say do not do them is a sweeping statement that I would certainly not endorse.
First of all, I would never had let it get that far! I tell each customer that there is a chance that the repair process may cause the damaged area to crack out. I also have it printed on my invoices and I have the customer sign it before starting the work.
screenman wrote:I have carried out repairs on vehicles that have gone on to win concourse in classic car competitions, so to say do not do them is a sweeping statement that I would certainly not endorse.
Screenman, that's nice to hear.. but highly doubt your repair had any influence with this competition. Classic vehicles are judged on many variables. Your repair probably wasn't much of a factor in the overall decision.
I don't like working on classics for the simple reason of expectations. People that restore these vehicles always charge a premium price. So why would you want to provide a chip repair for $50- $75 and deal with the liability if something goes wrong? Many of these classic windshields are no longer available. Why bother with these?
Have you ever cracked a classic while repairing? If so, did you pay to replace it? I personally choose to separate myself from high end liability jobs. If they have a $80,000 car and $1,000 deductible...I'll pass.
Sorry but glass is glass to me, crack out's occur if I do something wrong, which I try not too. I love top end vehicles, it add's credibility to my already successful business and puts me in front of the guys who will not do them.
Laminated glass will tend to become more " brittle" as it ages. The adhesion between the PVB and glass surfaces inside the lamination weakens. I have experienced this many times, when removing windscreens ( windshields) fitted using indirect glazing method. Under pressure the outer layers of glass would break off in large shards, indicating the adhesion between the layers had severely weakened. Obviously this will have an affect on repair since the outer layer of glass is less resistant to external pressure, because of the weakened support by the PVB interlayer. So it is not impossible to repair old laminate but you have to be extremely careful when applying pressure to watch for the cracks beginning to run. You may also find that the resin may penetrate between the surfaces further, causing the flowering effect.
Today I had the opportunity to repair the windshield of a 1962 Cadillac. Debris caused a bat wing type break to the right side of the windshield in the area just before the curve where it wraps around to the side. I thought a lot about not doing the repair due to the age of the vehicle and the location. But was confident it was a job I could do and having read threads on this forum I knew enough to exercise a great deal of patience. The result was great and received a ten dollar tip to boot.
Thanks to Bois for the earlier post on the 1957 Cad and to all those WSR tech's who jumped in with their comments. It made the task of doing this repair all the more better. There is not a repair that is too big or too small that we tech's can overlook the insight from this forum. I learn from all posts.
Protection #1 You should always have some type of general liability insurance before working
on any vehicle; I even know of an insurance processor that will not even do business
with you unless you can prove that you have $500,000 in general liability...
Protection #2: at the bottom of your invoice, you should have some type of disclaimer:
Windshields are prone to cracking; Our only liability is to refund your repair.
people like to make lawsuit threats all the time, but when the plaintiff comes to realize, it is not
very cost effective to take you to court over a windshield, thus taking the chance of the plaintiff
losing the case when they can not prove to the judge that the crack was already there or not...
even if the defendant lost, so what, his damage would be no more then the cost of a windshield,
and since the windshield was already damaged, he would even paid out a lowered value, as the
tech did not create the damage to begin with....
The defendant would have been better off doing nothing, and certainly not pay out
the full price of a damaged windshield, even if he had to go to court the outcome
may have even been the same, if not a better outcome since the plaintiff can
not proof the tech caused the crack....
I think if this had gone to court, then the plaintiff would have had a 0 chance of winning....
always worry about covering your own ass, do not worry about the other guy...thus
the need for liability insurance, and a disclaimer on your invoice....
