Crack repair 2

[Lee]

I didn't mean to step on anybodys party. The question was how do you sell someone something(crack repair) that isn't not there? The crack will still be in the glass and it may be stronger but it is still cracked. Most people think that if you repair it it will be gone. Has anyone "repaired" a crack and have it go away? We have done a lot of chip repairs and have had good results with them but I am leery of getting into crack repair and alineating customers. What equiptment do you use on crack repair and how are your results? Do they (cracks) really go away? Can you people reccomend a repair system for this? Just asking not demeaning anyone.
Lee

[Repair1]

Lee,

First off like any large repair when it is in the acute area you should not repair the windshield. Crack repair saves windshields when done properly by a professional and yes there are those that you can

[glassdoctor]

I am not big on crack repairs myself... never pushed them and never tracked the results. I know of a couple that didn't hold a year or so later.

One important thing with cracks is to do them fresh... only a week or two old and still clean. I almost never see this because I work dealers used car lots.

You can check out companies like ultrabond that brag to the moon about crack repair. I don't think anyone is in the position to list who's resins, etc are and aren't "good enough"... beyond what they have used and compared directly.

As for the selling crack repairs, you can't sell that it will "not be there".

Yes, it IS still cracked, but it's REPAIRED so that it's much better cosmetically and it's guaranteed to prevent further cracking. If the customer feels they would be satisfied with, say "80-90%" improvement and a guarantee that it won't crack anymore... then that's how you sell it.

I will leave it to others who are "pro-crack" to comment about what resins are the best, etc... and give testimonials.

better post this time around 8)

[gt_repair]

I tell the cust. that the repair may look like a joint in a bifold of a pair of glasses. or a joint in a piece of wood. or even a line erased from a piece of paper.....You will still see were it was. just a silhouette.

But is is filled in..

[glassdoctor]

some good illustrations, gt... never used any of those before

[desertstars]

Lee,

Apology accepted.

As you can see by the response, most experienced techs don't want ANYTHING to do with long cracks.

The time and the money is just not worth the effort.

Experienced techs NEVER make a claim that any repair of ANY kind will become invisible.

We SAVE windshields.

Esthetics or looks are a secondary consideration.

To claim that the original damage will disappear is either due to lack of experience or just plain ignorance on the part of the "technician".

Our business REPAIRS windshields. We do not claim to resurrect them.

It is up to the technician to explain that fact to the customer before sticking the bridge to the glass.

[StarQuest]

Hey Lee,

Hope some of the guys satisfied some of your questions about glass repair. When you really give it some thought, we are all in this business to accomplish two things. Make a decent living and feeling good about doing it cause we save consumers and insurance companies lots of money. Not to mention what we saved from getting dumped in our land fills. So aside from all that.....I do have a question to ask?

In one of your post you mentioned your now in the TV/motion picture biz. Maybe I'm the only one a little confused, but why so much interest in the glass biz?

[Lee]

We have been in the glass business since 1960. Most of our business comes from the TV/Motion Picture/Comerical industry. We supply clear glass for the vehicles they use. They like clear to film the actors in the vehicles. Have you seen the Chevrolet comerical with the 4 guys driving in a new Colorado and one of them is singing "feel like a woman"? We did all the glass for that in clear. I am interested in all aspects of this industry and learn something every day. Enjoy

[GlassStarz]

My personal opinion is that Crack repair is bad for our buisness there is to much work out there to be doing repairs of long cracks that have a high failure rate and dont generally look much better. all that said the customer who is uninsured and obviosly cant afford a new windshield I will do it but its rare.