Safelite Windshield Replacement Leads To Worse Damage

[ScorpydJim]

2 years, 1 month, 3 days and change. Thats how long I waited to get my Bronco.

It only took a Safelite technician about 2 hours to cause more damage to my Bronco than I have accumulated in 6 months as a daily driver.

Long story short (actaully, kinda long!), I had about a 4 foot crack in my windshield, and Safelite was Progressive's preferred windshield replacement vendor. I figured it was the safest bet to make sure things went smoothly and correctly. They even offered mobile service, so i had them replace my windshield today (one of my work-form-home days of the week).

Once the tech was at my door to tell me he was finished, I asked him to give me a minute to look over the work. Glad I did while he as still there, because it was nothing short of completely unacceptable. He gouged the paint at the upper corner, between the windshield and the pillar face. Just about to the bare metal. As I'm looking this over he says "Yeah, the scratch?".......I try to keep my cool, knowing full well I'm about to get into a dispute with a large corporation, and want it to go a certain way. Then he says "Yeah, it happened on the other side too".....and I look over "Dude, are you FUCKING kidding me???"

Another set of scratches, same area on the opposite side. He attempted to "fix" by scribbling over it with some black primer (keep in mind my Bronco is Cactus Grey"), to help conceal it. In reality, it only made it THAT more noticeable. He tried assuring me that SafeLite only guarantees they won't scratch the pillar face, and he did me a favor by not covering the entire gap area between the windshield and pillar with black primer (which almost seemed like it was Safelite policy to do so).

Anyway, talking to him for more than two minutes I could tell he had absolutely zero problem-solving skills, and still had no idea what the big deal was. I told him I was going to call Safelite and let them know what happened, and that I was going to get them to pay for the repairs. After numerous calls to the Safelite shop he worked for, with a Safelite customer service rep on the line, had no luck reaching the shop manager (or shop itself). The rep then assured me that they would have that particular shop's manager call me by 5pm today. Fine, I'll give them a few hours.

In the meantime I check my Blink cameras to review his work. THEN I SEE HE WAS SITTING ON MY DOORS WHILE THEY WERE OPEN, AND YOU CAN VISIBLY SEE THEM SINK DOWN AS HE SAT ON THEM. Never once did he use a step stool. Each time he needed to get somewhere he couldn't reach, he would open the door and sit on it. I have clips of him doing it numerous times.

I went out and inspected my car, and sure enough, both door are now a little out of whack, the jamb gaps are no longer consistent (both sides), and the driver's side door is now RUBBING AGAINST THE SILL.

I'm livid. I'm trying to keep it together here.

Anyhow, I have the Better Business Bureau complaint page open, and once it hits 5:01pm, I'm submitting a formal complaint. Then I'm contacting Progressive to make them aware of what their preferred vendor did to a customer's car. Then I'm calling back the Safelite customer service line and speaking to a manager/supervisor/director about what happened, the proof I have, and the steps I've taken to draw as much attention to the issue as possible during the same timeframe I was unable to get a hold of, or get a call back from, the shop that was at fault.

That is horrible, I’d be pissed too!

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[C00TER]

It’s time for Safelite beat down

 

[bcb1]

Dang I’d be really upset as well. Sitting on the door? What the heck dude. That’s just disrespectful.

I’ve had several windshields down by Safelite and all were fine. The techs were good, and they were polite and careful. Clearly that wasn’t the case here. They need to do a better job training their people on the “things you NEVER do to a customer’s car”!

 

[Raptor911]

The door situation is just outrageous. I bet he had a ladder in his truck was just too lazy to go grab it.

so how do you fix a sagging door? Are the hinges slightly bent?

 

[shoelessjoe]

Sorry to hear of bad experience, I've never really like Safelite because their windshields are shit and chip & crack easier than an original windscreen.

I just got my Bronco today and the dealer offered my a plan that covers Wheel and tire damage and windshields from their dealership using Ford parts. He quoted me $1,495 if I remember correctly for 3 years 36,000 miles. I'm thinking of going for it, I'll have to swing by there and check it out some more and get the details.

How often, how many and what's all covered exactly, but a couple of factory windshields and wheel repairs would be worth it.

I asked the finance guy who also has a Bronco coming if the dealership's service department does five tire rotation when they do an oil change without the push back that other dealers are giving owners, and he said said of course they do five tire rotation without any problems. So I purchased three years of oil changes with tire rotation for $285 figuring I'll do 2 a year or more for less than $50 per visit. If I squeeze a couple of more in it'll be $35 per visit.

I'll use my new Bronco CC and get the points too.

Next it's an extended warranty from Granger, I'll use my Bronco card there for more points too.

Can I use my points towards the Granger purchase?

If I stack enough points from purchase 42,000 (I think he said) plus the 11,000 for putting $3K down using the card and prepaid service and... I'll either cover part of the extended warranty or some accessories.

Yes you can use FordPass points on your Granger warranty I did.

 

[Southern Girl]

Crap. They are doing mine on 3/1. Guess I better babysit and watch the whole thing!

I don't remember who replaced my F150 windshield, but I sat on the porch and watched them the whole time. Luckily, they did a great job on my vehicle. I would lose my composure if I saw someone purposely sitting on my doors like that and scratching my paint!!

 

[2112]

I am curious where the lawyers are who take on non-injury automotive cases? (I am not suggesting a lawyer isn’t necessary)

Twice in my life I’ve had to try to hire a lawyer to solve smaller cases where a large end settlement isn’t part of the picture. The second case is happening now as a matter of fact.

I need to pay a $15,000 retainer just to get started. And I’ve been warned that success isn’t guaranteed. And the emphasis is on the retainer is just the start.

To the O.P. man, I would have lost it. That isn’t an accident, that’s pure incompetence. I hope you get resolution that makes you whole.

 

[Crzr45]

I see 2 vans …. Was he in “training “ by the company? Lots of times senior techs will shadow the “new guy”.

 

[mark1031]

Oh man, Im a calm dude but I would have lost my shit on that moron. Uggg.

The sitting on the doors. No words.

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

What I read, said it only covers chips and not cracks, they only fix, they don't replace. This was an add on for the service/maintenance plans.

Do you know the company it was from? This plan, as it was told to me is through a vendor, but it's a Tuttle Click specific product in that the repair work has to be done there, it wasn't a blanket policy, so to speak that allows for the work at any dealership. Same with the prepaid services, those have to be done at Tuttle Click too. They do a five tire rotation!

But I'm OK with that, they did me RIGHT! Even matched the Credit Union's rate that they knew I was applying for, but the credit union didn't want to increase my loan amount and the dealership did. And, they extended it for the same rate as the CU would have charged if they approved the higher amount.

I had to change the amount of the loan because the truck came in a week early and Monday being a holiday I couldn't transfer my Bronco funds back to my checking account for a week. Plus, I now can wait for dividends and (hopefully) the market to come back so I took a higher loan for 72, some rate as 60 months.

Carmax gave me $7,600 for my Mazda3, I paid $9,000 for it two years ago, so I was very happy with that.

 

[MannyG20]

The sitting on the doors is inexcusable, but about the paint chipping on the inside of the windshield frame…… even a great tech who does everything right can create paint chips - I am not saying this guy is a great tech.

 

[C1 Ret]

2 years, 1 month, 3 days and change. Thats how long I waited to get my Bronco.

It only took a Safelite technician about 2 hours to cause more damage to my Bronco than I have accumulated in 6 months as a daily driver.

Long story short (actaully, kinda long!), I had about a 4 foot crack in my windshield, and Safelite was Progressive's preferred windshield replacement vendor. I figured it was the safest bet to make sure things went smoothly and correctly. They even offered mobile service, so i had them replace my windshield today (one of my work-form-home days of the week).

Once the tech was at my door to tell me he was finished, I asked him to give me a minute to look over the work. Glad I did while he as still there, because it was nothing short of completely unacceptable. He gouged the paint at the upper corner, between the windshield and the pillar face. Just about to the bare metal. As I'm looking this over he says "Yeah, the scratch?".......I try to keep my cool, knowing full well I'm about to get into a dispute with a large corporation, and want it to go a certain way. Then he says "Yeah, it happened on the other side too".....and I look over "Dude, are you FUCKING kidding me???"

Another set of scratches, same area on the opposite side. He attempted to "fix" by scribbling over it with some black primer (keep in mind my Bronco is Cactus Grey"), to help conceal it. In reality, it only made it THAT more noticeable. He tried assuring me that SafeLite only guarantees they won't scratch the pillar face, and he did me a favor by not covering the entire gap area between the windshield and pillar with black primer (which almost seemed like it was Safelite policy to do so).

Anyway, talking to him for more than two minutes I could tell he had absolutely zero problem-solving skills, and still had no idea what the big deal was. I told him I was going to call Safelite and let them know what happened, and that I was going to get them to pay for the repairs. After numerous calls to the Safelite shop he worked for, with a Safelite customer service rep on the line, had no luck reaching the shop manager (or shop itself). The rep then assured me that they would have that particular shop's manager call me by 5pm today. Fine, I'll give them a few hours.

In the meantime I check my Blink cameras to review his work. THEN I SEE HE WAS SITTING ON MY DOORS WHILE THEY WERE OPEN, AND YOU CAN VISIBLY SEE THEM SINK DOWN AS HE SAT ON THEM. Never once did he use a step stool. Each time he needed to get somewhere he couldn't reach, he would open the door and sit on it. I have clips of him doing it numerous times.

I went out and inspected my car, and sure enough, both door are now a little out of whack, the jamb gaps are no longer consistent (both sides), and the driver's side door is now RUBBING AGAINST THE SILL.

I'm livid. I'm trying to keep it together here.

Anyhow, I have the Better Business Bureau complaint page open, and once it hits 5:01pm, I'm submitting a formal complaint. Then I'm contacting Progressive to make them aware of what their preferred vendor did to a customer's car. Then I'm calling back the Safelite customer service line and speaking to a manager/supervisor/director about what happened, the proof I have, and the steps I've taken to draw as much attention to the issue as possible during the same timeframe I was unable to get a hold of, or get a call back from, the shop that was at fault.

Holy DIPSHIT Batman, that is gross negligence defined. If your state has a Bureau of Automotive Repair, I would make the complaint there. You have good reason to be P'd off. Sorry that happened to you.

 

[Lil Red Broncette]

Damn that is horrible. I suppose the only up side is that fighting the scratches around the window alone could be difficult, the crap with the door with the evidence you have is a strong case. Although I can see them claiming that is how they work on it to prevent scratching the fenders....some logic to open the door to get closer, but sitting n the door is bad.

 

[HotRod76]

Wow, I think I am angry for you. I look forward to seeing how this turns out and how things are made right for you.

 

[mcinfantry]

I am curious where the lawyers are who take on non-injury automotive cases? (I am not suggesting a lawyer isn’t necessary)

Twice in my life I’ve had to try to hire a lawyer to solve smaller cases where a large end settlement isn’t part of the picture. The second case is happening now as a matter of fact.

I need to pay a $15,000 retainer just to get started. And I’ve been warned that success isn’t guaranteed. And the emphasis is on the retainer is just the start.

To the O.P. man, I would have lost it. That isn’t an accident, that’s pure incompetence. I hope you get resolution that makes you whole.

They are all over facebook, this forum and others. They have to be, becuse i always see everyone suggesting ‘get one’

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