One more hack to ruin the industry.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/3oys/stories/KTVK3OYs20060915_dirt-cheap.12af3ae8.html

This was in today's Glasbytes! I almost fell off my chair!! Oh my God!!

Someone HAS to contact that writer and give him a proper education. Besides after learning how a replacement is done properly he can right a terrific follow-up article on how ignorant the average consumer is much like himself!!!

Wow. 20 - 30 minutes! There are a few GRAVY jobs that take 20-30 minutes (i.e. 799, 1269, 1005 etc), but for the most part the average install takes me 45 min to an hour. I'm not the slowest tech out there, but not the fastest either. I like doing a quality job.

Oh My Gawd Ignorance knows no bounds. The writer never bothered to do any research before he wrote that article. He owes the people who took his advice to go to thatAGR shop and the industry as a whole a BIG apology.

It is good to see Diamond did not low ball the price. Maybe they are trying to value the work.

What?Ha,Ha,Ha, now thats funny!!

I would like to see a video of an install from this shop.. next time i am in az at my shop there i will swing by and do my own 20/20 :)

Maybe Diamond isn't low balling in that area but they still are here. Changing? Right!

Certainly makes one wonder.............

The thing that is really kind of scary about this is that, people are going to listen to this guy!! Where else are they going to get their information? This guy REALLY should have done some more research before he did this!! How do we get the information across that there is more to an installation than just the cheapest price???? Any ideas, guy's, ladies?

Here is their contact us link

http://www.azfamily.com/customerservice/helpcenter.jsp?id=1100561440000

StreekyD, Thanks for the info.

I sent this to them:
Gary Harper wrote and you published one of the most irresponsible articles I have read in years. It is obvious Mr. Harper didn’t spent 10 minutes researching the subject he wrote about. Your article is a major injustice to anyone who reads it and takes your advice.
Your article can play a major role in someone emerging unharmed from a car accident or escaping unharmed due to the fact they took your advice
I urge you all to respond to them too.

Change unharmed to badly injured in last part of my reply

I would STRONGLY suggest AGRSS contanct this person and give him the low down on a proper install.. Where the hell is Cindy Minion on this one ?? She is always in the middle of something and i don't see her on top of this, and its in her BACK YARD!!??!

I think my montior screen is wet due to Hal's salivating at the thought of 1/2 labor payments.

All I can say is ,, man I'm sure glad I am not in the big city! A lexus to boot,,, 125??? I have more in cost on that one! That's just plain sad, but hey that's exactly what the ins ind wants,,,, the CHEAPEST!

They gotta be gluing the new (used) one in right over the busted one.....I thought I had heard it all but it just gets worse.

I did my part, sent an email suggesting they do a follow up with some true professionals and enlighten the public about safe windshields as opposed to cheap windshields. I let them know that in my opinion they had done their viewing public a great disfavor with the report. That cheap and safe do not usually go hand in hand, you get one or the other. Also threw in a comment regarding liability on their part, as the story comes across almost as an advertisement for these lowballers.

Write a review of Klassy Glass!

http://phoenix.citysearch.com/profile/1620921/

hmmmmmmm.... My boss' wife spends $125.00 for hair styling & color..... a windshield in their lexus could be $125.00......... i bet the hair looks better.... what??????

And the lesson here is ... you should've all gone to cosmotology school?

Web, your right and it is sad. When the big AGR company that makes their own glass and their the only one left. Then everyone will be happy. Except us

Nothing against you but I'm tired of people giving me the excuse well you should have went into that bussiness instead.

Auto glass is what I know and I enjoy doing it. I shouldnt have to compete with a Hack like this guy. Thank god I'm far away from him.

I empathize with you completely and meant no disrespect by my remark. I was just trying to add some levity and I'm amazed that someone would pay $125.00 to have their hair done.

I completely respect all of you that love what you do and fight the good fight to keep doing it. Kudos.

I'm anxious to see if your emails to them will prompt any kind of follow up article or response.

Here is the reply from my complaint:
Dear Sglass ,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Everyone here at AZFAMILY.com strives everyday to provide the most personally relevant news and information for our customers. And, it is through customer e-mail that we are best able to appreciate viewer feedback.

We encourage you to e-mail us again with any other comments, questions, concerns or complaints you may have.

Best Regards,
Mike
Translates to yes we are irresponsible and we aren't going to do anything about it.

Maybe they should look at starting up an insurance company or a tpa. Just like everything else in this business. They must have took lessons from them.

People write them..write them...write them... if this is allowed to go unchallenged we have no one but ourselves to blame.

Translates to, We have a good story and we'll see if it flies and hopefully, no one will get hurt!! I just sent in my own little letter to them. I REALLY hope that they will eventually get the idea that this might not have been such a great idea!

That is the most nonresponsive reply they could come up with. Sglass...can you post their e-mail address for us?

3oys@azfamily.com <3oys@azfamily.com>
send emails here

I found email address by following StreekD's URL address on previous page of this thread.

I just got a reply to my email from the producer of that show. Should I tell him in my response to check out this forum? He might get an idea of what we are trying to say? What do you think?

ABSOLUTELY TELL HIM!!!

YES>>>TELL HIM

I sent my response back to him and gave him the information. Hopefully, he will take a look at this. It was the best way I could think of to try to get them to see a different side of this. Maybe if nothing else, they will do a follow up that will give consumers more information than the CHEAPEST place to get their glass installed. I tried to impress upon him that my concern was that, while I try to be competitive in my market, safety is the PRIMARY concern in any installation. Hope this goes somewhere besides their trash can!!

They may want to consider sending it, along with a script of the "spot" on CHEAP WINDSHIELDS to their lawyers for future use, as I said before if you read it it sounds almost like an advertisement for the lowballers. Some poor unsuspecting viewer of 3TV On Your Side goes in for one of those super duper $100.00, 20 minute windshields (as they probably don't follow safe drive-away times either) then the viewer leaves Klassy Glass rounds a curve looses control and rolls over...ya think the w/s is going to do it's job?

Those were the points I was trying to make with my intial email to them. I stressed the point that there are procedures that need to be followed in order to do a safe, quality installation and that it was not physically possible to do the installation correctly and safely in that amount of time.

my little bit of protest to them...

Your story on "dirt chep windshields" is a disservice to your readers at best and could be deadly.

Please check the website www.safewindshields.com. There is quite a bit more to the job than "meets the eye".

For most vehicles the proper adhesive alone is $15+. Even in pallet quantity, the windshield for ANY Lexus is at least $50. An average installation takes at least an hour to PROPERLY perform. Add this to travel time etc.. and you might reach the conclusion that anyone willing to work for $40 gross before 3 types of insurance, taxes, technician wages, various expenses, vehicle payments, etc... might have a tendency to cut a few corners.

In the case of a windshield installation, the corners cut can reduce the structual strength of a vehicle by 35%, and / or cause the passenger side airbag to not function properly. Did your example customer get information regarding safe drive away time and a written warranty? Was the lot number and expire date of all products used clearly recorded on the invoice?

I guess it would be appropriate for you to remind your readers that take advantage of this dirt cheap deal to wear a seatbelt....and hope they don't have a warranty problem......the owner would likely make more money in the fast food business.

You get what you pay for. Sometimes that amounts to more than you bargain for. Maybe next time you can find the cheapest doctor in Phx without regard for licensing or qualification and plug them.

This Just In : D.T. Has raised its prices in N.Texas.(for now)

Hey Guys,
Keep sending messages to these people. Get everyone you know in the industry to send a message to these people. I would not stop until there is a published retraction of the story. The sad part is this story may help add names to the list 20/20 has for Part II.

Has any one read the single review of this company?

http://phoenix.citysearch.com/profile/1620921/

The glass industry is driven by consumer demands. In the last year or so our company has had to resort to installation practices that we do not like to admit to simply cut price and remain viable. We now offer installs without moldings/or we cut flexi and throw that on there just to cover the edge but it looks far from factory. We use primerless urethanes and no pinchweld primers. We use the *tuck* method of setting. No one asks us if we do a safe install, they ask us how little we can do it for and we give them what they ask for. sorry guys. I know you don't like people like us but that's life.

Great biz ethics.Lets do shady work to save money.Thats ok though,if you give the customer shady work and tell them when they have problems that they get what they pey for,next time quality shops will get the work and make money.So keep up the good work,whatever dude!!There are many other ways to run leaner than doing shady work.

That may be life, but I really hope your company has insurance because the first time the happy customer with the cheap windshield has a wreck and gets thrown through the windshield because it didn't hold, you are going to need it! Good Luck!

Lance, you are the stupidest person to ever post on here. Didja ever hear of rust? A can of good primer is 5-10 bucks, is that not worth saving a life or preventing rust? Would you do that to your mom's car? Diamond is looking for techs with your skill level.

Wow- Lance I used to know guys that worked for companies that used the tuck method and I also have had to fix the damage that other installers have caused because they dont know how to do the job to begin with.
I cant believe this guy was dumb enough to post that. No excuses Lance you should always do the install the proper way becasue the courts can come back and nail the owner and installer for the bad install if someone dies because of it. Use you head guy what if it where you kids in that car or you parents then what?

Lance Storm,

I really have to wonder, if you care no more than that for the quality of work that you do, or the safety of the customers that you install for, WHY are you even bothering to post on this forum. I realize that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but MOST of the people who post on this forum do so because we have a genuine concern for our quality of work and the safety of our customers!

There have been posters like Lance Storm in the past and I'm almost convinced that they just come here to push buttons and get everyone worked up. Whether its to forward an agenda by taking everyones focus off of real issues or whether its just to be an a-hole, I'm not sure. My advice is to ignore them. I honestly don't believe three quarters of what they post anyway. And again - these posts look amazingly similar to protek, dogg and whatever other names were being used (all from the same ip address) a while back that talked of ridiculous work habits, moonlighting and bad mouthing their current employer.

I assure you that if forum policy is violated I will nip it in the bud asap. So - don't stoop to the level of personally attacking this type of poster.

Thanks.

You're right Bryan...sorry.

Yes Byran/Webmaster you are right, doesn't make "Lance Storm" any less wrong though. But I think with a name like that he should go into show business, his ethics and or values make me think porn would be a good arena for him LOL. I don't think it's real either, although at some point he's workied in the biz you can tell. So Webmaster you are onto everyone who posts under different names? I've changed mine a couple of times, just trying to find one that fits. Current one is in relation to my tattoo. Absolutely nothing to do with AG.