I'm talking mobile repairs here, not replacement. I've been in business as a repair only mobile service for 13 years.

My flat rate restrictions range from $55 (AAA) to $65 (Liberty Mutual). Also Erie, Nationwide, Western United, Unitrin, USAA and others. Even worse, I just got an update for commercial fleet pricing, Flat $45.

The Safelite shop in my area (Sacramento, CA) is not subject to flat rates. They can bill at least $59.95 plus $10,10 on a service call.

I've found that my customers are not opposed to a small copayment if I tell them up front. The problem is when they call Safelite Solutions and are told that up to 3 repairs are covered and they don't need to pay anything out of pocket. Now, I look like the dishonest one trying to double dip the insurance. This recurring scenario sheds negative light onto my reputation and costs me money.

Are you subject to flat repair rates while your local Safelite shop is not? Do you think that SGC created this situation as yet another way to steer customers away from independent shops?

Their 'intent' is the icing on the cake.

Their 'actions' are of primary importance.

Document, document, document!

Eric - These are exactly the situations that we have been dicussing in multiple threads on this board.

You are welcome to extract what you want as to SGC's motives or intentions. I think it is fair to say that their most recent "tactics", "policies", "pricing", "consulting advice", and so on, is not designed to HELP independants.

As Mark 1 always reminds us DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT!! Get copies of SGC invoices, show your fleets what SGC is billing, give them a link to this forum (maybe they will see it is not just YOU that has these challenges with SGC, perhaps restoring some of your credibility with the fleet).

You might also remind them that in most cases most NETWORKs charge a processing fee on top of the repair invoice; no matter who performs the actual service. If you add that fee to the SGC invoice, perhaps you can make a pricing deal with them. Certainly if SGC can collect the proper data to process the claim for them, you can likewise.

Might be worth a try!

Wait a minute here. Am I missing something?

I quote Eric Davis:

" Are you subject to flat repair rates while your local Safelite shop is not?"

Good question but other than a lot of conjecture about Safelite motives et cetera, I couldn't locate a response to that precise interrogative.

That could lead to a thread in itself. Do ANY of us actually KNOW what Safelite bills for a repair job channeled through the Safelite network? Is that amount the same as the rest of us receive and if not, why not?

We all know what Safelite's motives are and for the neophytes who do not, simply scrolling through and reading previous posts in this forum will answer any questions that they might have about those motives although the answer is as obvious as the nose on Pinocchio's walnut puss. Discussing the reasons why a snake bites isn't the question to ask after one is bitten. Especially after fanged twice.

Eric posed an excellent question and those of us who are not part of that Safelite franchise need to become intelligent about the matter in regard to:

Is that Safelite shop simply charging more for repairs to a NON-insured customer or are they somehow also ramming that identical $59.95/10/10 rate for their insured customers through the network either through the front or through the back door?

Frankly Eric, I admit to being ignorant insofar as Safelite's rate or internal network billing within the area my company represents. Five or six years ago I elected to distance my company from that network and wouldn't touch them now with a fifteen foot long vaccinated Slick 50 treated dipstick. We direct bill to the glass desk any insurance company serviced by that laughingly "objective" network.

Sure, that inevitably leads to hassles and a bit of extended account's receivable. But, it's a matter of who runs my business. ME or some insurance company or another coupled with a worthless, self-serving network.

If ALL of the independents refused to deal with Safelite, how long do you think it would take before they died on the vine?

But, one word of immediate warning that I didn't bother to tell any potential competitor of mine even ten years ago...

never ever ever ever never ever allow your generated customer to call in the claim without you either being present or before initiating a conference call yourself with the insured on the line.

And now, let's see who DOES know what is going on within the territory they serve insofar as the question Eric asked to begin with.

Where on earth is that SGC Rep now?!!!! I would love to hear the answer to the question Eric is presenting on differential pricing.
We all know there are different territories or markets that have different rates. But why should Safelite be able to bill at a higher rate than any other company? If they want to bill at a lower rate, that is their loss. Why must the other companies lower their rates to bill their competitor? This is clearly a conflict of interest and should by any normal business standards be concidered illegal. I just don't see how or why they can get away with it.

Interesting.

I wasn't aware that there WAS a Safelite shop or network member active within this forum. I don't get the chance to peruse it as much as I would like.

Monitoring Safeliters no doubt; but, active Safeliters no.

How convenient then. I'm able to ask a few public questions and receive answers directly from the horse's mouth.

So...

What IS the answer to the question Mr. or Miz Safelite?

If the answer is that Safelite charges the same through their network as the rest of us, is $59.95/10/10 Safelite's universal going rate in Eric's area for network flat rate billing or is that a rate for the walk in cash trade only?

More precisely, is $59.95/10/10 the going rate in YOUR area simply for the cash trade or is that for the cash as well as insurance trade?

If the latter is the answer, how do you then manage to bill that through the network?

Which topic opens the door for other intriguing questions such as if that $59.95/10/10 rate is what Safelite feels is necessary for repairs, why did that network negotiate lower rates for the rest of us with the very insurance companies who paid at LEAST $65 for the first repair eighteen or nineteen years ago when I started my business?

Assuming I receive an answer, I'm nothing less than objective and will consider the response in a fair manner.

Well. I was quite interested in receiving a reply from Safelite to my previous post requesting some direct answers to direct questions.

Perhaps he is too busy servicing steered leads from that network. I'll give him a few days.

Everyone should be charging a copay!