Windshield Repair Forum

I recently checked with my local JIFFY LUBE Shop regarding windshield repair with Safelite Glass apparently they were not giving a kick back to Jiffy lube for any work done so that is why Safelite were dropped

GlassStarz is right, putting down the Jiffy Lube repair guy without ever seeing his repairs or knowing his background (training, experience, etc.) is the same as an insurance company saying that because someone does repairs at a carwash or county fair they are not qualified to do quality work.
I do however believe that it takes a special kind of person to have the guts to go out and try to make a living on their own. I also believe that among those individuals is an even rarer breed that is able to actually be successful at it. It does not however take an extremely gifted person to perform an average windshield repair.
I think that is what GlassStarz was saying.

If you all go back and re-read my posts I think you might get a clearer understanding of what I was saying.

Goldstar, I apologize as you do have firsthand knowledge of the repairs that were being done at your local Jiffy lubes and therefore are qualified to make a judgement as to their quality.

Jiffy Lubes ... well I have trained (for rock chip repair) and worked in almost 100 different Jiffy Lubes so I know a little about their procedures. First of all Liquid Resins does NOT give extensive training and close to no support. I do not call phone support real support and the reason being how can you effectively aid a person in a windshield repair without hands on examples .. or maybe I should say you can more effectivley aid a person with hands on examples. When I trained Jiffy Lubes we actually went on location and trained hands on, we also left managers in the area to train on an everyday basis in both sales and repair techniques. Even with all that training once we left the building they would do poor repairs with little or no competence in sales and frequently they would lie to get jobs .. even though the real thing sells itsself quite well. All that to say that people who use windshield repairs as a secondary service, unless they have a dedicated person who does nothing but chips, which does not happen in Jiffy Lubes in any state nationwide, do less than superior repairs and present the product in a much less effective manner than a professional repair person would.
As far as being concerned about the growing phenomenon of secondary service type repairs, I wouldn't worry too much about it as a good Jiffy Lube doing repairs is lucky to get 1-2 a day in a major metropolis. Regardless of what an employee might tell you those are the TRUE numbers. I have spoken with EVERY major JIffy Lube franchise and even alot of minor ones and while they do a good job at oil changes overall they are not to be feared in their little entree' into our livelihood(sp?).

The Jiffy Lubes that use Safelite for their referall service are Jiffy Lube international corprate locations... the Jiffy Lubes that use A.C.T. aka liquid Resins are all franchises who were solicited individually by A.C.T.. My experience with A.C.T. training has been that they will gather the managers from all 18 locations in a state that they are hired to train into one room and train them for a portion of a day. Then those people who just had a very limited training period have to go back and teach their entire crew how to do something they themselves barely know how to do. That makes for a shoddy repair overall.

Please do not mistake my post for being against A.C.T. because I think they are the best alternative to safelites program by a long shot. The owner is a stand up guy and I have nothing but respect for him. It is his program I do not agree with and for the points made in the above paragraph. There could be some VERY big money to be made if someone could come in with a realistic $500k to make a viable computer model and training platform to compete with A.C.T., which wouldn't be very difficult and we almost did it but fell short on the financing end of it. By the way if anyone feels they might be up to the task I have every piece of information needed to get into this extremely (potentially) profitable aspect of windshield repairs and I would be happy to talk to you. I just don't knwo how many millionaires we have frequenting the boards is all

p.s... not checked for typoes so I hope you can decipher my typing

Hello all- I deliver auto parts as a part time job in between my repairs and one of the shops I deliver to is privately owned and he has 2 or 3 in town and he "Rents space" to the windshield repair tech. The tech. is not on his payroll, ins., vacation, no benefits at all. The tech actually pays him to have the exposure to the vehicles and the customers. So just because a guy works at a quick change oil place doesn't necessarily mean he is paid low or doesn't have the interest or training. The tech at this place acctually makes REALLY good money (although I haven't seen any finished repairs yet) - When he leaves I might get it.. LOL!!!
Just my 2 cents worth....Thanks, Mepoozer

I agree with Glassstarz This buisness is easy to get into, Look at delta training video, they have a kid showing how easy it is to do a repair, any body can do WSR. The hard part is doing good work and selling your services. Jiffy lube is Corprate and big they see how easy it is and fast money,,, isnt that what we all want?

I hear from one of the large INSURANCE Companys here in MA that Jiffy Lube are doing a lot of repairs, billing them at $100.00 a pop I couldnt tell you how there repairs look ?????.-Here in MA you have to be registred with the Division of standers and carry a $10,000 bond to do buisness, renew date every 3 years.-- Is it like that in your state ?????

The same people own the franchises up here the repairs i have seen are good and from what I have seen its a good place to sell WR.
Lets face it the more people who are aware that repairs can be done the better it is for us as a industry. There are so many breaks that dont get fixxed and so much work to be found who cares if others are doing it? If you arnt as busy as you would like to be its no ones fault but your own. Go out and sell! I worked 1 1/2 hrs today made $235 and went home. So jiffy lube sells Wr? who cares? so do alot of other buisnesses.