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ya'll gotta here this. while leaving their insurance agents office; after being referred to my shop; my customer was followed home by a SAFELITE glass truck. the driver called his office with the part info. safelite delivered the glass to their driver at my customer's house. if that isn't the sleaziest way of doing busines i don't know what is(@*$&($^*(!@^($
And to think HAL still believes Safelite has the infamous "chinese wall" that doesn't allow for this type of rapid communication. Oh wait, that was the "wall" that didn't allow there network to push dispatches to their local shops and allow their installers to show up exactly 1 hour before you get there with a dispatch in your hand.
Why do you think they invested in all those high falutin' electronic dispatch systems, like the kind used by FedEx? They just send the information to the driver in his van and he goes and steals the job.
Hal this happens 1 to 2 times a month with Safelite. I have had customers in my shop set up a claim to have there windshield replaced for the following day and somehow Safelite shows up before me and installs it and the Tech does not let the customer know what company he works for(this is part of the game)all they say is i here to replace your windshield and ask for the keys. When i contact safelite i get the answer that the job was dispatched to them, i then ask how did i get a fax from them confirming the claim. I also ask to review the taped phone call. I even have gone as far to have the customer on the phone with me when they are upset that i didnt do the work. Hal this has got me ZERO $$$. I never get a answer and the insurance companies dont care. Please give me your fax number and i can send you a memo Allied sent all there agents steering business to Safelite and i can bet your company does the same. Hal stop BS people on this site!! Insurance companies care only about the bottom line and care little about the consumer.
Hal, I think you should dump Safelite and find another TPA that does not have other retail or wholesale operations, or set up your own glass claims department.
It might be in your own best interest. My attorney thinks Safelite is "an anti-trust lawsuit waiting to happen."
HAL, WE SPOKE TO OUR CUSTOMER. WE RECEIVED AN UNNESESSARY APOLOGY. HE WAS EMBARASSED BUT SAID THAT BY THE TIME THIS SAFELITE GUY WAS FINISHED TALKING HE WAS CONVINCED THAT HIS AGENT HAD SENT HIM. WEIRD STUFF. REX, HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED THIS? THIS HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST 4 TIMES NOW. WE SET UP THE JOB WITH SGC NETWORK. WE GET THE FAXED AUTHORIZATION. WE DO THE JOB. WE TRY TO BILL THEM. THEN THEY TELL US THERE NEVER WAS A JOB. SO WE DON'T GET PAID. I'M STILL TRYING TO GET PAYMENT ON THE LAST 2. AS FOR ANTI-TRUST, SGC AND THE WHOLE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IS THE DEFINITION OF IT.
This sounds like what we used to refer to as "Double Booking". That was a term we used when I worked for Safelite many years ago. They would dispatch work to multiple shops and the first one there got the job. It stinks, but it wouldn't surprise me that they're still doing this.
If your TPA does things out of line to other insurance companies and you know it. Doesn't it bother you and make you question the company you keep. Maybe a few phone calls to your competitors to compare notes would shine a little light on what people are telling you on this board!
Could you also address the question-why are there so many different insurance prices and Auto glass should be priced the same.
Q-If your TPA does things out of line to other insurance companies and you know it. Doesn't it bother you and make you question the company you keep.
***A-I don't know that I have really seen improper behavior on my tpa's part. I have seen some dictates by insurers that gives me shivers, and the tpa seems to take the heat for these program dictates.
Q-Maybe a few phone calls to your competitors to compare notes would shine a little light on what people are telling you on this board!
***A-This could create some possible anti-trust issues which we try to avoid. Believe it or not-98% of our glass claim payments are not challenged.
Q-Could you also address the question-why are there so many different insurance prices and Auto glass should be priced the same.
***A-I'm not sure I agree about one pricing for all. [Even body shops have geographic labor pricing.] I don't think an independent shop could compete equally with a Safelite, Guardian, etc.
I think the various pricing structures offer proof that insurers are not trying to fix pricing.
Hal, I think everyone realizes there are different pricing structures due to geographic locations and competion ect. But what I think RO is refering to is the enormous pricing swings we as shops are facing. We can install 4 or 5 of the exact same,,,say a 01 chev p/up, and we will have 4-5 different prices, with a tremendous range due to who, and what tpa and what ins co. ect. Many shops have said BS to this and have been establishing THIER own prices based on THIER shop's "needs" to be profitable. That is the way it should be in developing a true "MARKET". Every ins co I deal with directly says the same thing,, "they can't believe all the crazy prices that have evolved since nags rebalance." I believe we have never had such wide swings and mainly so many different pricing models. ALL of with are DICTATED to the shops by ins co's and mainly the tpa's they represent. Not too long ago we had 1 formula for cash, 1 formula for fleet, That paid within a certain time frame, and 1 formula for ins work. And there was NOT huge swings in the pricing models. Right now it's a NITEMARE and to me proves, nags and tpa's are the one's FAILING. Not the shops trying thier best to do quality work and make a fair and reasonable living! Maybe we need a new thread just on this topic of pricing models??? In 20 years in glass I for 1 have never seen such a mess as we have right now!
cs - we have tried the "one" price fits all model, and it simply hasn't worked for us. We submit ins. co invoices and they still pay more than we charge, due to "thier" pricing as insane as that sounds.