First of all let me start out by saying I have never been opposed to competition, as long as it is done in the correct and ethical manor and not in a fraudulent way. Consumers should be on guard if someone approaches you in a gas station or store parking lot asking to clean your windshield, as this could be one of the biggest consumer and insurance ripoffs in the auto glass industry to date.I have personally talked to a few of there technicians.
This is a quick over view on how they operate.
1. First of all the customer pulls in a service station to get fuel and is approached by one of staff to clean there windshield as a courtesy.If they find damage they will offer there windshield repair service, right there on the spot. And if you have comprehensive insurance they can bill it to the insurance company. And that is where the screwed up repair starts. Rule number one never do a windshield repair when moisture is present. by cleaning the glass they have not only added moisture to the stone break but have also added more contamination into the damage. Windshield cracks are very open to the elements and will fill up with moisture in just a second.I personally have done tens of thousands of windshield repairs. And if the windshield has been wet I cannot do a repair until it has had time to dry out. On hot sunny days about an hours on cooler days 8 to 24hours.
My point is they are injecting resin on top of moisture without giving it time to dry out. They have done more harm than good by sealing moisture in the damage. Furthermore the appearance looks terrible.
This practice of cleaning the windshield first has screwed up thousands of windshield across the country thus compromising vehicle safety.
2. They are also repairing surface chips that would have never split out in the first place and billing the insurance companies for them. One of there lead technicians tried to convince me that one of the surface chips I had on my vehicle needed to be repaired, it took me ten min. to explain to him way it was impractical not to do them, and he still didn’t understand.
