Something happened earlier this week which gave me an idea for this post, which I hope/think may get some people thinking about the quality of windshield replacements in Albuquerque and what level of service you are willing to accept.
I was talking with a friend about a year ago who had had his windshield replaced before we met. The conversation went something (actually pretty darn close) like this.
Him: Oh, you do windshields?
Me: Yes I do, do you need one?
Him: I did but the guy I had doing some landscaping said he could do it so he did it for me for a $100, was that a good price?
Me: It is lower than my price would have been, mine would have been $150.
Him: Well I thought $100 sounded good and he got it in. It leaks when I wash it or it rains so I just don’t wash it.
Me: Why don’t you get him to warranty it, come back out and fix it?
Him: I can not get him to fix it. Besides it was just something he did on the side for cash.
Which takes me to a windshield replacement job earlier this week. I was doing a Lincoln Navigator for a gentleman and when I got to the job site and walked up to the vehicle the first thing I noticed was the several strips of black electrical tape that were running across the top of the windshield holding the top reveal molding in place. I asked the customer about the electrical tape and was told that when he had had the windshield replaced before and that the molding had came loose and when he took it back to the shop that they had placed the electrical tape there in an attempt to “fix” the molding issue. And over the last yr or so as the tape had come loose the customer had simply replaced it with more electrical tape….. instead of having/making the “professional” glass shop stand behind their work and warranty the workmanship of the installation which he had paid hard earned money for….. he was content to accept sub standard work and quality. I find this accepting attitude prevalent here in Albuquerque, which I admit I do not understand, why do we continue to allow this level of service??
The reason for the BLACK electrical tape across the BLACK molding at the top of the windshield was two fold.
1. They had cut the bottom portion of the molding that wraps around the edge of the glass and tried to glue the remainder of the molding to the vehicle.
2. They were hoping that the customer would forget about the tape holding the molding in place because it was black, the same color as the molding….. I mean why else electrical tape? They normally use blue or gray painters tape…..pretty sneaky.
As I showed the customer why the tape was needed and what had been done in an effort to save the cost of a new molding, a whopping $7!! I would like to think had the customer known at the time that the new molding was only $7, he would have gladly paid the price. I also pulled out the new windshield from my van and showed him that not only did we supply a brand new molding, we also took the extra step running a small bead of urethane to adhere the molding directly to the glass thereby eliminating the risk of the molding coming loose at a later time. Other low cost (cheap low balling) glass shops hate that we do that….. it requires that they purchase a new molding should there be a need for another replacement in the future. Our customers, on the other hand, like the fact that we take the time and care enough to take that small extra step.
Which brings me to another subject that I cannot stress enough and attempt to educate the public about.
We have all seen vehicles driving down the road with tape on their windshields….. You should not see this, EVER! I repeat … NEVER, EVER!
Why is there tape on the windshield? Most times the tape is in two strips on the top on either side of the windshield, why is it there? It is there to hold the windshield from slowly sliding down/out of place before the urethane is cured and able to hold the windshield in place (refer to Safe Drive Away Times) The tape does not hold the windshield in the vehicle, I mean stop and think about it… would you trust masking tape/painters tape to support anything with any weight to it?? Again it is ONLY to keep the windshield from slowly sliding down and out of place.
So, after letting the vehicle sit the required amt of time (again refer to the Safe Drive Away Times) before it is safe to drive, you can/should then remove the tape which means…… wait for it…… wait for it……. Which means you should never see a vehicle driving on the road with tape on the windshield!!!
My hope is that someone finds and reads my posts and learns something useful that will save them money, headaces and maybe their lives.
