??? Billing, Software, Start-up, training, products, etc!!!!

[Glacier Auto Glass]

My husband and I are starting a new glass shop and have set a target date of April 1. We are the only glass shop in a town of about 6,000 people (in Alaska). I have some questions.

First off we are headed to an NGA class in Pasco WA next month so you have to excuse how new I am to this business. I have been reading your forums quite a bit and have gained a lot of knowledge from them

[Glacier Auto Glass]

One more question, what are most of you charging for windshield repairs? Does that price go up when it is being billed to insurance? Do you just get all the insurance info you need from their card right then and bill when you go home? I'm still confused about insurance billing. Here in my town 2 other glass shops went under due to problems with getting insurance to pay. I may be overanalyzing the insurance billing process, but I want to be very comfortable with it when we open shop.

I have been reading some of the archived correspondence - don't people get a little weird when you are looking through their windshields for chips?

[paintlessplus]

Hi Glacier - Welcome to the forum. I'll try to answer some of your questions in the repair area. As far as kits I would recommend going with Deltakits because of ease of operation, quality of repairs, quality and durability of resins, customer service and support. As far as bang for your buck I originally bought the single bridge kit and later added more bridges and crack expanders, but the initial kit has everything you will need to do excellent repairs. There is not any extra fluff or items that you will not use on a daily basis with this kit. The only thing else you might need would be some glass cleaner,towels,and a small step ladder. I found the price to be cheaper or equal to competitors. The kit is also very well organized- you won't realize how important that is until you actually get started- but every piece has a place for storage and it speeds things up and you won't lose anything.

Insurance billing for repairs is actually very easy if you become a member of the glass networks.Basically you get the insurance info from the cust. ins. card and call his insurance companies 800 number to report the claim. The operator comes on line and you have the customer tell them he has a windshield chip on his car that needs fixed. Information is then captured by the operator as to cust. name -vehicle make -policy number-and date of loss. The operator then transfers the call to the respective glass claims network (Lynx or SGC or other smaller network) Now the network operator gets on line and asks the customer if he has a repair shop selected to perform the WSR. The customer will then say "yes, I want Glacier Auto Glass to fix it" Now.. if you are a network member the operator will say "good, they are on our list of preferred repairers" they will then ask to speak to you. They will ask your name and give you a dispatch number for the repair- they may also give you a price to charge, then they will send a fax to you verifing the repair with the cust. info- pricing and dispatch number. This all may sound complicated but it actually happens in about 3 minutes, and is not an inconveinence for your customer. I have yet to have a customer put on hold or put off during this transaction- you are basically helping him report his claim in the most rapid manner possible.

Now...you perform the repair and before the customer leaves he must sign a copy of either your invoice or the repair authorization faxed to you. This states that the work was done and directs the insurance company to pay you. The only other info you need to send is the full vehicle ident. number.

Next, you need to get paid....To do this the insurance company needs to get your bill in electronic form. You can do this yourself, but the software can be expensive. What I do is go through a third party( I use glasscomp). They charge me $2.25 per invoice to convert my hand written information into electronic gibberish and forward that to the network.

The network has a vested interest in you because if you don't get paid, they don't get paid. The network then takes over the process of collecting from the insurance company. In effect the insurance company pays the network and then the network pays you. A check will arrive from Lynx services or SGC made out to you for the agreed price that was faxed on the repair order. As example you may get a check for $50. to $60.(thats the average repair price in my area) at the end of the month you get a bill from glasscomp for $2.25 for invoice processing.

My advice- keep it as simple as possible and then add on as your business grows. You should never have any problems getting insurance to pay if you work within their system. I have always recieved my checks within 10 working days or less. Good luck to you. Bob Pennington/ Paintless Plus

[Glacier Auto Glass]

Do you know anything about GlassShop Pro software? It was about $1,200 - did I just waste a bunch of money?

[paintlessplus]

I just looked at the Glass Shop Pro web site and it looks like you will be able to do your own EDI electronic billing with their software. That should eliminate the need to go through a third party such as glasscomp -so that alone should save you $2.25 per invoice. I know nothing about the replacement biz but I would imagine this program will probably be a big help once you become familiar with it. Organization is very big in this business- probably money well spent. Bob

[chips1144]

Bob you explained that very well, Thanks...
One question, if you are mobile and cold calling, and you are stood with the customer by the vehicle that needs to be repaired, How do you get to see the faxed repair order, do you trust its been sent and take care of it when you get home???

[paintlessplus]

When you get on the phone with the network, they will give you a dispatch number- write it down and repeat it back. The network will also ask you if you want to know the price to bill the repair. When you get home if the fax is not in your basket, you can phone the network and explain that you didn't receive a fax for dispatch number XXXXXXXXX. They will then promptly re-fax the repair authorization order. When I give the customer an invoice receipt, I personally write on my invoices....

1 (one) Windshield repair as per insurance co. agreed price.



deductible N/A

Total amount due = 0

This way the customer has no idea what I am getting paid. All they know is that the deductible is non applicable and there is no money due from them. Naturally the invoice receipt that I mail in for payment lists the agreed price. Not only does this reassure the customer that he won't be personally billed- some people get jealous witnessing a person making $50-$80 for 15-20 minutes worth of work. Bob

[chips1144]

Thanks again Bob, Totally Understood...