we installed a w/s in a f series pickup, the new body style in march of this year, last week he calls and said it was full of pits. he brought it in and showed it to us, it was pilkinton (lof?) glass, i still figured they were a good brand, anyway, there were a few minute chips in the surface of the w/s. like the ones people who tailgate have, so he tells me that the windshield didn't have the protective coating on it, and expected me to install a new one for free.

the funny thing is the network called me and wants me to waive the deductable for him, and install a new one. i try to stand behind my work, but this is just stupid.... there is road construction between us and where he lives almost 35 miles away.

i can't believe the nerve of the network, they are still going to make their money off the deal, but they expect me to eat a 250 deductible? sorry, i can't see that we did anything wrong.

WHAT?

You mean Pilk is mfg windshields without the required Oxyphiltropicacymutosiscetylcoline Protective Coating????

I can't believe it!

(please don't ask me to repeat that.....)

While I have never heard of the protective coating before, I have occasionally had customers come back weeks after an installation and ask if they had gotten a 'soft' windshield because of the pitting they see.
I always answer "yes, you did", and get interesting looks.

I explain it like this: Windshields are made of annealed glass, which IS soft glass. While it would be possible to make them out of heat strengthend glass, they would likely break easier from the impacts, where the soft annealed glass absorbs the majority of impacts without breakage. Each of those small pits is a rock hit that did NOT break the windshield, because the soft glass absorbed the impact but left a small surface scar. I add that a rock the size of a grain of sand can break a windshield if it's moving fast enough, and a rock the size of a basketball will bounce off if it's moving slow enough. I also explain how fully tempered glass breaks from those small impacts, and this usually drives the point home because everyone has seen broken tempered glass once in their life.

I have found it's easier to spend ten minutes explaining it, than to deal with the alternative. I have yet to have a customer leave angry after expaining it.

Here, the worst damage from pitting is interstate driving. Everyone here drives freeways, and associates with this also. When you meet a truck on a two lane road and both of you are doing 65, he tosses a rock, and it hits you doing 130 mph. But when you're driving down a freeway, and pass that same truck in the fast lane, you're doing 80 but he's tossing up just as much debris, and you might take a minute or more to get around him, but the impact speed is much less, hence, more pitting.

Both explanations work well, but I cna't help you with the protective coating. lol lol

Thats funny , I thought that the networks didnt want us to waive deductibles. Are they trying to say its a warranty issue ? If so how is it you fault or even your problem if the guy has a pitted w/s as long as it wasnt that way when you installed it. I would tell the network to kiss off.

What next? A full replacement warr. if the glass breaks due to any impact?

thats the amazing thing, the guy is old and he don't drive, he lets his wife drive.

i have heard for the millionth time,,,i don't let her drive on country roads,,,then he asks why his paint aint full of chips. he says we have done a wonderful job of installing the new w/s, but doesn't think it should have chips after 5 months. geee.

i have had the agent call, the network call, and the customer has been a headache. i told him if it was something i could return the w/s for, for instance a stress crack, i would change the w/s for nothing, but there is nothing that anybody has done to cause the tiny pits.

i just can't believe he thinks i can just warranty the w/s. i have no control over the conditions he is driving in, no matter where he lets the wife drive, ha ha.

so now i guess i will just have to live with my "bad reputation". i just don't know what i could have done different, and i don't see how i can be held responsible. the network sure didn't pay for an oem w/s either, not that it would have made a difference. it isn't like i picked the absolute cheapest w/s out there to put in.

If we didn't have to deal with the crazy discounts that the insurance companies demand and were able to make a reasonable profit then I would be inclined to help the customer.

Would you change it if you could collect the deductible or even half of it?

Don't laugh people, but in this market a few years back there was a life time warranty on w/s's...... It was the without a doubt the STUPIDEST promotion ever.... but we all did it............ Now when someone calls about pitting or a crack from a pin point chip, we tell them "It's Glass... It breaks!!!!""

Ask the insurance company if they think that glass shouldn't break when the car is driven on the road.

If that's the case, arent they committing fraud by charging for insurance?