People trash talk diamond and safelite here and try to rain on their parade because they have no parade of their own..obviously. If you did have a parade you wouldn't be in here trash talking them. Ever noticed how much they don't care? I guess I don't notice many regular safelite or diamond employees visiting this auto glass industry forum to whine and complain about the state the industry is in LOL, because they aren't out scraping and scratching for jobs. They have built an empire that is unnnnnnnnnnnnntouchable.

Big powerful business is the result of many years of dedication, planning, goal setting mixed with a little luck. These two companies are the delta force in the AGR industry. Power is controlled in numbers, numbers they are cranking out every day in units replaced, cash flow - the lifeblood of any company. Numbers your head can't even begin to comprehend. You say you have a agr business? That's like me saying Im a farmer but in reality all I have is a 10x15 fenced in spot next to the alley where I grow my sweet corn and tomatoes.

Since you brought them up, not me: Karen Christopher and Doug Boyle are both going to become NGA certified next month (October). This is according to article in AUTOGLASS magazine. Wonder if they're gonna start doing siders after hours like some of their other techs.

I'm not saying a thing, but I tell you I'll be back to read the replies to this thread OFTEN

Well, it would appear that we have someone from the big 2 a little bit upset!!

He's just trying to yank somebodies chain. His little farm is probably way to full of fertilizer to grow anything anyway.

I would rather be a farmer of small potatoes instead of a megga orchid of rotten apples.

a friend of mine still works for D/T-although he's looking for another job as we speak, he still does his job every day-we spoke recently about the goings on out in the field-he didn't sugarcoat it-evedently, there is very little morale, no one talks to each other, everyone is afraid to say anything for fear of being fired, and no one trusts local or upper management-people who have put years of work into this company are regarded as peons-poeple are being fired left and right-everyone is literally looking over their shoulder-
Sounds like Doug and Karen have definitely developed quite a mindset-fear and loathing as the paranoia sets in-(plus no raises till sometime in 07)

Actually Lance, not everybody puts them down.

Here's an example that speaks VERY well of Safelite employees, and actually brought a tear to my eye:

Wichitan part of epilepsy-implant test (CLICK HERE)

There are many others that Glassbytes puts up about Diamond, Safelite, and others. Excellent examples of what the companies do for their surrounding communities and such.

Now, past that, comparing the businesses strictly by size, I would agree with everthing you have to say, with just a couple of exceptions.

Not everyone wants to be a big business. I certainly don't; I prefer to stay smaller to ensure personal contact with our customers. We prefer being on a 'first name basis' with our customers, and them with us.

And if not for bankruptcies, lawsuits, and FBI investigations, you'd be absolutely correct. But because those things do exist, let's just leave the big biz/small biz issue at the "to each their own" level, shall we?

Hey lance,I was a disrict trainer for pag,dm for triumgh and a manager for dt for a long time and found out that some of the ind's were and still stronger than any unit pushing big boy will ever be.Loyalty for one,quality,taking care of their customers better than any big guy could.If all of us ind's were gone you would not have any market control.THE MARKETS ARE CONTROLLED MORE BY IND'S THAN THE BIG SHOPS.THE ONLY REASON YOU SURVIVE IS BY US.WHAT WILL YOU GUYS DO WHEN WE BECOME A CO-OP OR JOIN TOGETHER IN HIGH %'S AND PUSH YOU AROUND.IT IS ALREADY IN THE WORKS WITH AT LEAST 400+ SHOPS.GOOD LUCK YOU ARE GOING TO NEED IT!!!!!!!

The big powerful business you speak of were built on the backs of good people that were mislead to believe that paying off ins agents,pumping out "units" no matter what the quality and trying to run honest small shops out of business was the right thing to do and that the company would take care of you.WAke up people it's only trash talk if it isn't true