Advice Page..

[screenman]

It should not be hard to sell the advantages of using a repair only company, I think there is still a good living to be made in this industry for quality techs. Those with good sales and marketing ability will always do better than those without. You are in an area with a lot of techs but also a lot of cars, in general the quality of repair in the midlands is not good so you could do well if your standards are up.

[Frank EU]

Hi RockyBalboa
Please do PM me.

[screenman]

Frank EU,
cannot the rest of us see the advice you are going to give this guy? or is it top secret.

[RockyBalboa]

Hi RockyBalboa
Please do PM me.

How do i PM on this..Sorry im new to this..

[RockyBalboa]

Well Mr Screenman..I understand what you mean by poor quality of work i often have customers coming up to me and show me poor quality of work often carried out by RAC Windscreens or even Auto Glass.. So it doesnt mean that all technicians are poor workers.. Im pretty sure you started off from scratch. Im damn good at my job and i never have had any bad feedback from my customers.

[RockyBalboa]

Oh does any one know how to remove scratches on the windscreen caused from the Wipers??

[screenman]

Yep I started off from scratch, after 4 days of training from an american guy that flew in just to train me and then spent 3 weeks working on practise screens to make sure I knew what I was doing. For wiper scratches try jewellers rouge on the end of your finger and polish hard. This is what most customers say works. Failing that try a search of this site on your chosen subject.

[RockyBalboa]

Thank you very much for that advice Screenman..I will try using that jewellers rouge.. how much do you think i should charge customers of scratch removal?

[Brent Deines]

In my glass shop I used Cerium Oxide and a small, dense wool-felt buffing wheel. This is also what many glass distributors use to buff light scratches out of windshields before delivering them to glass shops. A larger buffer and special wheel are available, but unless you are doing a lot of scratch removal the 3" drill/grinder mounted wheel works quite well. Delta Kits sells the exact same wheel that I used in my shop, and we sell a very high grade Cerium Oxide, but these products are available from a wide variety of glass tool suppliers. This is a very inexpensive and an effective option, with the only real draw back being that it is a little messy. Whenever possible I recommend rinsing off the vehicle when the job is complete.

There are lots of more expensive scratch removal systems on the market, but I have tried many and have not found them to be much more effective if any, and most are just as messy. Everyone has their favorite, but so far I have had better luck with a simple wheel and some inexpensive Cerium Oxide.

Novus sells one that works very well for removing deeper scratches, and it also recaptures the slurry that is used as a buffing compound so it is less messy, but it is quite expensive, difficult to get up close to the moldings, and great care must be taken so as not to damage the glass by grinding out too much glass. Used properly it is a very impressive product, but due to the size, and the time it takes to set up, I find that even most large auto glass distributors and glass shops use something similar to what I used in my ship.

There is a lot of hype about the different scratch removal systems on the market, but in my opinion there is no need to spend a lot if you just want to remove wiper scratches and other light damage of a similar nature.

Regardless of the system used scratch removal is a time consuming process, and the time it takes depends on the length, width, and depth of the scratch, so I recommend charging by the hour. I charged $45/hour but that was many years ago. I would charge more now, but of course it is up to you to determine what your time is worth.

If you decide to purchase a more expensive system, just be sure you get a demonstration, try it yourself first, and get a money back guarantee.

[Frank EU]

Simply click on the name present in the left corner and the contact details you are going to need to PM your contact will be shown. Good luck.