Windscreen Replacement...

[Ant97GTR]

It is not often that I have a rant on the forum as I'd prefer to sort things out with the people/companies involved but this has been going on far longer than it should've and I guess it will serve as a bit of a warning to others....

On the NSW motorsport trip I managed to get a cracked windscreen from a stone impact ....this wasn't so bad at first but each day it got worse and I knew I needed to replace the windscreen. As my insurance is with a company that prides itself on insurance for motoring enthusiasts and I have a windscreen replacement clause as part of my policy, I decided to claim on it. When I called to claim there was no issues but I was a little surprised to learn that they use Windsceens <insert irish name here> as I thought they would only do the run of the mill type cars. Considering that I was told by the insurance company that they use them a lot, and knowing that a lot of special cars are insured with them, my mind was put at ease.

It turns out I was lucky that the car was at Micolour and that Mick is such a perfectionist , because had the windscreen repair been done at home, I probably would've shown them the car in the garage and left them to do their job and not seen what transpired. I get a call from Mick on Wed (21/11) just after the work was done telling me what happened....basically he saw most of the job and in his opinion the windscreen was put in a little too high or slightly out of place and when the outer seal (the black rubber seal you can see looking from outside the car) was put back into place, it rippled up and creased around the drivers side top corner. This also meant that the side of the seal that joins with the screen running down the drivers side had lifted from the glass by a couple of mm. Anyway the windscreen fitter calls Mick over and says that the job is done....Mick takes one look and says that it isn't good enough and that the owner (me) wouldn't be happy. So what does the fitter do...pulls out some superglue to stick the seal onto the glass which ended up not working very well anyway. He then grabs a razor blade, scrapes the excess glue away to clean it up and in the process scratching the hell out of the seal! The fitter goes "job done" and leaves. Naturally upon hearing this I wasn't too impressed so I called the insurance company back to rectify the situation.

With all of my dealings with the insurance company in the past I have been impressed with their service and the way they look after their customers, but not this time. I got put through to the claims dept and explained my story only to be told that "sorry you are going to have to sort this out with the windscreen company yourself". Hang on, this is a claim made through your insurance company....the job was done by the company you use for these matters, the whole job was organized by the insurance company and you are paying for it...yet the job was f*#ked up and you want ME to rectify things??!!! Anyway I call Windscreens <insert irish name here> and speak to the manager who informs me that his fitter has told him the job was done to the company standards and that it was satisfactory and that I should raise this matter with the insurance company! FFS talk about getting the run around! I had had more than enough by this point and called the insurance company back on Thurs (22/11) explaining that I shouldn't be put in this position (between them and effectively a sub-contractor that they use for these jobs) and that they should sort it out - the person agreed and said they would sort it out. He then calls me back and says well the manager of the windscreen place will have to come look at the job but he is too busy to come have a look at the car and I'd have to take it there. When I explained that the car couldn't be moved and that I work full-time and wouldn't be able to do it anyway without taking leave he said he'd try and convince the windscreen place to take 10mins to drive up the road and have a look at the car. It takes until Tues (27/11) before I hear back from the insurance company and the end result is that one of their assessors will come have a look at the car to determine the state of the repair.....I finally get a call from the assessor today saying that he will look at the car next Mon (03/12). So lets see - a simple windscreen replacement that should've taken a couple of hours will take at least two weeks to get sorted!

Sorry about the novel but I had to get that off of my chest.....lesson learnt - if you do need glass work done have a close look at the state of it after the repair and IMO don't use the company that worked on my car especially considering their company standards seem to include the liberal use of superglue!

[_Ryan_]

Mate, sorry to hear. I'm up for a new screen soon on my project, and you know who i won't be calling now. Bloody Irish.

Have they always been like this?

-Ryan

[Ant97GTR]

Mate, sorry to hear. I'm up for a new screen soon on my project, and you know who i won't be calling now. Bloody Irish.

Have they always been like this?

Lol like I hinted in my post, I'm sure if you are replacing your falcon or commo windscreen they would have no hassles as I'm sure they do it day in day out but for something a little different I'd try someone else.....on that note does anyone know a windscreen repairer that does more specialized work?

[DivHunter]

This is on the R33 GT-R? Certainly not 'specialized' and I'd say it's really down to the individual who was sent to do the work rather than a company-wide incompetance. Not that it was the workshop's responsibility but Mick probably should have insisted that the windscreen be re-fitted right then and there and otherwise got onto that fitters supervisor/manager immediately. I've had/seen a couple of windscreens fitted and they came up looking and fitting perfectly.

Just seems like the individual fitter didn't care nor take any pride in his/her work which is a pretty piss poor effort.

[Snowman]

Ant - I'm with the same insurance company and have had to have a windscreen replaced by the same mob. And my experience was nothing short of excelent. Infact I cracked another Windscreen at Winton on Cup Day and have to get another replacement and I'll happily use them again after the last job they did.

I think you just got unlucky with the guy who did the job rather than either company being at fault.

[Ant97GTR]

Divhunter.....yeah I probably used the wrong word when I said 'specialized' - rather people who take a bit of care in their work. Mick is also not to blame in any possible way as he did bring up his concerns at the time to the windscreen fitter.....the fact he kept his eye on things while running his business as well as giving me a call to let me know what happened is testiment to his customer care

Snowman....I've seen the work on your car and I was impressed - in fact it was one of the reasons why I wasn't so worried about using them.

I guess at the end of the day you guys are right that I was just unlucky getting a fitter who didn't take that little bit of care with his work - but at the end of the day I do hold the windscreen company responsible for having someone like that under their employ as well as not taking prompt steps to inspect the results and rectify it.

[mitchy_]

if it doesn't get resolved, try taking it to another windscreen place, and ask for their opinion on the quality of work, and give that to the installing company.. i'm sure they would love to hear what someone in their industry thinks of their work.

[saff_cossie]

Irish sounding and coloured company using an Irish sounding sub contractor

Sorry to hear Ant as 10 mins of rushing by someone on their job/not doing it well enough causes seemingly endless grief for the innocent party.

Hope you get it sorted and well done to Mick for picking up on it. I hate to think how you would have found out otherwise, most likely a leaking car in the rain/car wash with little or no come back from there.

[N1GTR]

Sorry to hear

[Al]

That's pretty damn bad, sorry to here.

I had my windscreen replaced too, same insurance company, but used a different windscreen company (long story, but no particular reason). The only difference with the claim is; i had to pay the windscreen guy, then send the invoice to the insurance company and then they sent me out a cheque.

[KURAUN]

hmmm bit off topic but need to ask

where bouts can you get the window moulds?

the rubber ones for the top of the front window and the ones that go all around the back window?

not after genuine aftermarket will be fine

[Interloper]

hmmm bit off topic but need to ask

where bouts can you get the window moulds?

the rubber ones for the top of the front window and the ones that go all around the back window?

not after genuine aftermarket will be fine

also interested to know!

my rear seal is totally warped/shrunk

[Omurru]

^ lol, ditto, although I do like the fact everyone thinks I have "vortex generators"

[ferni]

I'm with a different insurance company, but they give me free windscreens as well, i've had it replaced twice by them, same windscreen company you used. First time the plastic bit that sits on top of at the bottom of the windscreen got broken/cracked a little bit, not a big deal, its pretty old and dry, not really his fault. I was watching... 2nd time had no issues. It will be down to the individual installing the windscreen i guess. Insurance did say i could get it done anywhere and just send them the bill to be reimbursed but couldn't be stuffed, this way i didn't have to fork out the money at all.

[Scotsman]

hmm not good Ant. I also suffered a chipped windscreen from the NSW trip and am in the process of getting it repaired right now. I had another company come to replace it yesterday and they pulled the old screen out and then told me that the glass they brought along is actually for a 4-door and wont fit. Idiots.

I'm praying they are fixing it right now.

[Ant97GTR]

Well I'm not sure about the rear seals but I called Nissan (brighton) about the front ones and the outer one they have in stock but the inner one they have to order fron Japan.

There is always the option of getting a windscreen repairer to replace the seal with an aftermarket one as well. They might look a little diff from stock but they aren't too bad -a good example is Snowies car.

Anyway I will update when I get this sorted...

[Ant97GTR]

hmm not good Ant. I also suffered a chipped windscreen from the NSW trip and am in the process of getting it repaired right now. I had another company come to replace it yesterday and they pulled the old screen out and then told me that the glass they brought along is actually for a 4-door and wont fit. Idiots.

I'm praying they are fixing it right now.

Who would've thought that replacing a windscreen would be so hard?

[Sarumatix]

My GFs father is doing up a loverly Valiant. He got a bunch of irish to do the windscreen, and all I will say is he was not happy.

[Ant97GTR]

Ok update time...

An assessor from the insurance comp came and looked at my car....took 5 secs to look at it and agreed that the job wasn't done correctly and that the seal need replacing. He calls the windscreen mob who say that they need to order the seal through Nissan and that they will have to get it from Japan...I am looking at at least a 4 week wait for the repair. He then calls me with this news......I respond by telling him to tell the windscreen to GF'd (or words to that effect) as I spoke to the local Nissan dealer who told me a couple of days ago that the part is in stock at their warehouse and would take 1/2 a day to get to the dealer after it is ordered! I am waiting to hear back.....

....sometimes it really is worth doing some research yourself

[GTS-t VSPEC]

Ant, Sounds like a real pain in the ass having to do all the running around to sort out something that should have been done right in the first place