Windshield Repair Forum

Screenman, as some of you may know, I am also involved in a US repair only business, in fact, I have just returned home from yet another US trip. I can tell you that the situation in the USA, as far as I have seen it, pretty similar is to Europe. In the US customers are also sometimes told that indeed very simple damages could not be repaired -but should be replaced instead. For obvious, but all wrong, reasons. The morals you mention in your post (good point!) are generally not better or worse in Europe or the USA, people are people, no matter were they live or work. BTW; I also feel that repair and replacement should be stricktly seperated. There is more to tell re this subject, but I must leave now.

screenman wrote:In reply to newvista, the conflict I see between WSR and replacement is down to money, now suppose sometimes the choice is shall I take $50 for a repair where I could earn $200 for a replacement, it would take a person of extremely high morals to do the repair if the damage was repairable. Over here on a daily basis we get to see very simple repairs that the customer has been told is not repairable by a replacement company, your market may be completely different, another example over here is some glass replacement companies offer bonuses for replacing a screen but not for repairing it, so if the fitter does a repair when he could have upsold to a replacement he is punished financialy.

I must admit, that is the mentality in many glass shops, however I always felt that I could do 4 repairs an hour in my shop quite easily so at only $50 per repair my profit was about $196/hour, whereas I rarely made that much profit per hour doing replacements, and the liability was much higher. Of course it all depends on how many jobs you can stack up, and how expensive the glass is, but I believe windshield repair is more profitable, and based on conversations that I have with glass shop owners on a daily basis I think more and more glass shops are starting to understand that.

There will always be a conflict of interest for some if the glass is expensive enough, but even if the customer had a $1000 windshield I would try to repair it if at all possible. My thought process behind that was that you should always do what is best for the customer, and the free advertising you get from that will bring you more than enough work to justify any loss in profit you may have gained by replacing a windshield that did not need to be replaced.

Brent Deines wrote:I received an e-mail from Mike Boyle today asking me to join the NWRA board, stating that he had the authority to make the appointment. I thanked him but declined the offer. This is the response I received. "Please let your members and the "many others" that don't trust me (NGA pals) that you decline the NWRA appointment. Thanks for the effort! Mike"

It's this kind of sarcastic remark that would make it impossible for me to work with Mr. Boyle. I don't believe that my membership with the NGA should make me an enemy of the NWRA or vice versa.

Well, I've done as I was asked and let all of you know that I declined the board position on the NWRA.

Mr. Boyle contacted me this evening to point out that I made a typo in the post above and he was correct. Originally the post read that he asked me to join the NGA board, but obviously it should have said that he asked me to join the NWRA board. My humble apologies to Mr. Boyle and all the readers of this board for my typo, it was most certainly not on purpose. The error has been corrected.

Whilst I fully understand your sentiments Brent, you would not only need to do 4 repairs but need 4 vehicles and 4 customers and 4 lots of paperwork to deal with to get the same as some would with one replacement job. Doing what is best for the customer is not often the way most companies think unfortunately.

Not all replacement jobs are well paying and I am sure the replacement guys know which one pay best etc.

I also agree whole heartedly with comments about poor quality repairers, but have not got a clue what we can do about this. Poor quality repairers are as big a threat to our industry if not bigger than the replacemet guys.

I agree with screenman, poor quality is a big problem. I also don't see how we can prevent these people from operating. We have lots of regulations etc on auto repairers and people still get ripped off by them all the time. Same with plumbers, movers etc etc. I don't think I did that well when I first started and I thought I got good training. There is just a lot to learn and it takes a while to become proficient. Creating barriers to entry into this field or having bureaucrats looking over our shoulders and judging our work is going to kill WSR just as much as hacks doing poor repairs.

I think this forum and others that encourage the free exchange of ideas does more to enhance our trade than anything else I can think of.

Thanks Brent and Delta Kits for the foresight and insight that they had when this forum started. I have gained a lot from it.

In every industry you find people who do good work and bad work. If 9 years of school can't guarantee a good doctor, it stands to reason we are also going to have our share of hacks no matter what we do. I could not agree with you more about creating barriers Nomad, that has not worked in other industries and it won't work in the windshield repair industry either.

I feel it is more up to us guys that hopefully do quality repairs to educate Joe Public about how repairs should be done and what they should look like, this in time should hopefully bring up standards.

I often wonder when I see a bad repair whether it was a plain nasty one or the guy did a bad job? I never say anything to the customer about another repair person and their work you never know what he had to deal with and it isnt good buisness to bad talk the competition but I do agree with the others there are a bunch of bad ones out there

GlassStarz is absolutely right that there is no need to bad mouth the repairer that performed a bad repair you noticed elsewhere on the shield. And indeed one cannot know what happened back then.You don't even know whether the repair has been charged for (which with a bad repair should not be the case of course). That being said, we, in our business, do always make clear to the customer that ''that repair'' is not up to ''what we believe should be acceptable'' and that we had nothing to do with ''that repair''. This is just to make clear that the customer, at any given point in the future, attempts to claim anything for ''that repair''.

Here are the new bylaws
Since not al forum members are NWRA members, I felt that it would be appropriate to share this information.
Please avoid a new rage against Boyle here, if you have a comment, keep it business.

August 31, 2009
Dear NWRA Members,
The bylaws of the National Windshield Repair Association (NWRA), Article IX, Section 9.2, provide that the bylaws “may be amended by affirmative vote of a majority of members present or, to the extent not prohibited by law, by affirmative vote of a majority of all Directors in office, at a duly convened meeting after notice of such purpose has been given.”
Accordingly, this letter serves as notice that the NWRA Board of Directors has voted to revise the NWRA bylaws. The exact revisions that were made will be explained in greater detail below. Moreover, an updated version of the bylaws is available for review on the NWRA.
As you are aware, the NWRA is committed to the concept of repair as the first option for damaged windshields. This is not only cost- and time-saving but, more importantly; it is the most environmentally friendly option. As such, the NWRA is also pleased to announce a bylaws change to allow its inclusion in
the newly-created Global Glass Conservation Alliance (GGCA), which is dedicated to reducing the energy impact of glass upon the earth. The GGCA promotes the repair, restoration, reuse and recycling of all types of float (auto and flat) glass.
With our organization’s inclusion in this global green alliance, we anticipate expanded and enhanced services and benefits for our members, however, there will be no change in your membership status. You will continue to be a member of the NWRA, which will in turn, be a member of the GGCA.
Accordingly, the bylaws of the NWRA have been updated.
The following revisions occurred:
• Updated Article I to reflect: “The name of the association is the National Windshield Repair Association, also doing business as the Global Glass Conservation Alliance;”
• Updated Article III, Section 3.1.1, defining a regular member, as: “A company actively engaged in auto and/or flat glass repair and/or restoration that is not a supplier to the industry;” TM
• Updated Article III, Section 3.1.2, defining a multi-level member, as: “A company actively engaged in the development of new repair and/or restoration
opportunities;”
• Updated Article III, Section 3.1.3, defining a supplier member, as: “A company that supplies goods, products or services to companies in the auto and/or flat glass repair, restoration, reuse and/or recycling industry;”
• Updated Article III, Section 3.1.4, defining an associate member, as: “Insurance companies, trade associations and others with interest in the repair, restoration, reuse and/or recycling of glass;”
• Added a new finished product member category (Article III, Section 3.1.6): “Finished product members—companies that produce finished products made
with recycled, restored, reused or repaired glass. Dues are $500 per year. Finished product members receive one vote;”
• Updated Article IV, Section 4.2, to reflect: “At least two board members shall be involved in repair, two in restoration and two in reuse and/or recycling;” and
• Added Article IV, Section 4.12, which states: “All directors must adhere to the conflict of interest policy as adopted by the Board of Directors.”
It is the opinion of the NWRA Board of Directors that these revisions were necessary in order to reflect the association’s commitment to its partnership with the GGCA, as well its resolve to reduce the amount of float (auto and flat) glass that is needlessly discarded each year. We believe that this expansion of the NWRA will allow us to provide new business opportunities for members and an easier message for consumers to understand. The NWRA Board of Directors appreciates your continued support as the association continues to adapt and grow in the future. Together, we will continue to support repair as
the first option, as well as the most environmentally friendly one. NWRA board member Wes Walker is heading up the effort to explain these enhancements to the NWRA membership. If you have any questions, please contact Wes Walker {removed by moderator}; or Wendy M. Jozwiak {removed by moderator} at the NWRA office.
Again, on behalf of the Board, I thank you for your participation and continued support of the association.
Sincerely,
Mike Boyle
NWRA President
{removed by moderator}