Anyone Work For An Auto Glass Company?

J

JayC

Member
I had to have the windshield in my WRX replaced a couple of weeks ago and what a disaster it turned out to be. Safelite did the work.. I sort of assumed since they were a well known chain that the work would be done correctly. Boy, was I wrong.



Problem #1 - I wanted a tinted windshield. I was originally told it would have to be ordered. Then I was told later that no such windshield for the WRX exists.



Problem #2 - They replaced the wiper blades and scraped my black wiper arms down to bare metal doing it.



Problem #3 - They didnt cover up the interior when they were removing the old one so bits of adhesive got all over my dash and down in my defroster vents.



Problem #4 - The trim around the window doesnt law flat. It bows out on both sides. I dont remember the factory trim doing that and this is supposed to be Subaru OEM trim.



Problem #5 - And the reason for this post.. I just can NOT get this windshield clean. It seems to have some sort of residue on it that whenever it gets wet, shows up. I'm wondering if they keep this things outside and they get rained on or something. I have tried everything down to Zaino glass polish trying to get this stuff off and nothing is working. My dad's Mustang has something similar that Ive never been able to get off and I think it's acid rain etching in the glass.



Anybody work for a glass replacement company that can shed some light on this? Im seriously thinking about calling the company and asking them to come remove the windshield and paying someone else to put one in.. Im that disappointed in the work that was done.
 
1. I'm not at work right now, but I bet that you can get a windshield with a shade band. We haven't had a WRX in the shop in quite some time, so I dont remember if the last one we installed was shaded or not.



2. I dont know how they pulled that off.



3. If they came to you and did it, I guess I could see them doing that sloppy of a job. We use compressed air to blow out any bits of dry urethane that gets loose when we are cutting out the glass.



4. I'll bet that they used universal molding. Universal molding doesnt always look bad, but there are just times that you shouldnt use it. If it looks like it fits, but it's just not laying down flat.....try parking it in the sun. The heat will help it lay down (if it's not messed up, or the incorrect molding).



5. I'm not sure what to tell you about the film. I've never had a customer with a complaint like that. I dont install it, but I handle the customer service part of it.....so as you can imagine, I've heard all kinds of weird problems.



One more thing, if you are going to get the work done again, I would reccomend taking the car to an actual shop. Someplace that has a storefront. I tell all my customers that they will get a better job if they come to me, and most of them dont have a problem with that. One reason is that the technicians are more comfortable. Another reason is that they have everything they might need right there when they need it (we keep a ton of extra clips, rivets, etc at the shop). Safelite is a huge company, but their work is usually not up to snuff. They will also use cheap glass that they manufacture themselves. Safelite are pretty much considered the "hackers" by most of the other shops.





HTH
 
Way2SSlow- Glad to see you responding on this thread as I have a Q about windshield replacement on b-bodies. Anything I need to know about getting a new on installed in the '95 9C1? Other than not wanting the SunGate (or whatever it's called) and not wanting the window channel scraped up (so it can rust later), anything else I oughta be thinking about?
 
If you dont mind checking for me to see if a shaded WRX windshield actually exists, I would appreciate it. Safelite originally told me that it did exist but they didnt have it. Then when all the sh!t hit the fan about the crappy job they did, they said they would order me the shaded windshield and come out and swap it. Then, they called me back a short time later and said they were mistaken, such a windshield didnt exist.



Oh.. and the reason for the wiper arms getting grenaded.. they put the replacement blades on and didnt snap them into place. Well, the next day, it rained HARD and I got caught up in traffic from a 40 car pile up on I-40 and just sat there for basically 6 hours while they cleared it away. So, the wipers werent secured and sat there and road up and down on the arm for 6 hours. Guy came back out, looked at it and said "Oh, they didnt snap them into place." Snapped them down and offered to "touch up" the wiper arms with black primer. I laughed at him and told him he might as well go ahead and order me some new arms.



Im seriously thinking about just disputing this with my credit card company and letting them sort it out.
 
Im seriously thinking about just disputing this with my credit card company and letting them sort it out.[/QUOTE]





That is by far your best bet..... they will certainly take your complaint seriously if they dont get paid. Its an easy process that usually works to the customers advantage.
 
Accumulator said:
Way2SSlow- Glad to see you responding on this thread as I have a Q about windshield replacement on b-bodies. Anything I need to know about getting a new on installed in the '95 9C1? Other than not wanting the SunGate (or whatever it's called) and not wanting the window channel scraped up (so it can rust later), anything else I oughta be thinking about?
Click to expand...





They're pretty easy. The installer shouldnt have much trouble with it. We've done quite few caprices/wagons since I've been here. They arent the cheapest windshield out there, but not much breakdown before you cut the glass out. If they take the urethane down to low and scrape near the pinchweld, just make sure they use primer on it and it will be fine. Audi cars are pretty easy too. We have the local Audi dealer as one of our accounts, so we do a ton of them. A4 takes about a half hour to 45 minutes. :D



On the WRX, let me know what year it is. I looked at some earlier models and my software is showing one tinted glass being available, but I'll have to call and make sure. Let me know what year, and I'll look around for ya.
 
Way2SSlow- Thanks for the info. It's that "if they take it too low" part that worries me, it's funny how people don't notice things like that when they do it ;) Had a Mazda rust out from it once and now I'm all paranoid. Maybe I'll see who does the Audis for my Porsche/Audi dealer, they always do a nice job so maybe I oughta just take the 9C1 to them. Heh heh, I'm getting all excited now that the project's moving along so well that I'm thinking about stuff like a new windshield!
 
Accumulator,



I want to see some pics of the car when it's finished. If they nick the pinchweld, just make sure they use pinchweld primer. Pinchweld primer is made to keep the pinchweld from rusting out. Hopefully, you'll get someone who knows what they are doing and the B car should be a piece of cake for them.





Jay C,



From 02-05 the Impreza WRX calls for a FW02245. That's the windshield's part number (FW=Foreign Windshield). My distributor is showing it available as a GBN part, which means the glass is green tint with a blue shade. So it should be available...They just didnt have one handy when they went out to you, and I guarentee they dont want to pull your glass because the urethane they use (atleast the jobs we have had to go back and clean up for them) is the cheaper harder stuff. The old L Imprezas take a different glass, and I show only one color for that one with a shade band availble through my distributor.
 
Way2SSlow said:
Accumulator,



I want to see some pics of the car when it's finished. If they nick the pinchweld, just make sure they use pinchweld primer..
Click to expand...



OK, gotcha on the pinchweld primer. I'll probably hang out at the shop and keep an eye on them.



Yeah, I'll be showing off the 9C1 when it's finished :D Not that the paint's anything to brag about (111K of cop service was pretty hard on it and it's all original paint). Still, it looks pretty good for what it is.



IIRC, I gotta come up with a better windshield washer setup for that car. I haven't given it much thought, but when I did look at it (so long ago I almost forget...) it appeared that the stock setup won't lubricate the glass all that well, contributing to the scratching. I'll see when I finally get the car back from Combination Motorsports.
 
This is an 03 WRX (4 door for the guy who asked earlier)



I still cant get past the "funk" for lack of a better word, thats on this glass. It's very distracting, right in my field of vission and I cant get it out. Looking at it closer, it almost looks like the glass is scratched up.. like someone took some steel wool to it or something.



Thanks for checking.. I guess I need to get someone to call another Safelite and see if they show a shaded windshield and then drop the bomb on them. I did notice that the windshield has SGC in the lower corner of it.. Safelite Glass Company maybe? You did mention that make their own glass.
 
JayC said:
This is an 03 WRX (4 door for the guy who asked earlier)

I did notice that the windshield has SGC in the lower corner of it.. Safelite Glass Company maybe? You did mention that make their own glass.
Click to expand...



BINGO! Their glass is cheaper than even the lowest quality aftermarket that we install here. We usually install all brand name glass unless the customer doesnt care and just wants a cheap price. I guess since you mentioned your credit card earlier that you didnt go through your insurance company. If you did, you can call them out on warranty. That is part of the problem with mobile installers too. Once they have your money, they dont want to come back out to fix any problems the customer might have. Safelite does have some shops..there are like 3 or 4 here in the Atlanta area....Maybe you could find one of those and go in with your reciept and see if they cant help you out.
 
My deductible was too high to claim it through insurance.



I really dont want to be a PITA but its been a week since they came out and looked at the windshield and I refuse to believe it takes that long to order a pair of wiper arms from Subaru. Probably on Thursday Im going to put the ball in motion and ask them to come remove the windshield and refund me. If they refuse, Ill just dispute it with my CC company and we'll go from there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top