Windshield Repair Forum

I was wondering if anyone has had success with charging the customer directly and providing them with an invoice; then having them send it in to their insurance company for reimbursement?

Business is slowing down for me and I am considering expanding my territory into the insurance claim industry and/or expanding my services.

That is the only way I do business. I do the work and give them a letterhead invoice and they turn it in. I asked a State Farm agent in my area about this and they said they had just processed one of mine a day before. They advised that I should add the make and model of the vehicle on the invoice which I do now and I also add the license plate number. This lets them know what vehicle was worked on.

Insurance cos in general will pay that way, reimbursing the insured, however it's not there preferred way of handling glass claims. Too many bozos out there doing shoddy work that isn't backed by a secure warranty and the insurance cos have no recourse on a crappy job that their insured paid for. There are plenty of legitimate network member shops doing high quality work and the insurance cos would rather use one of them. Hate to say it but this industry is overrun by clowns working for that days beer and cigarette money, doing lousy repairs. and not caring about the quality of their work.

This is the only way I do business as well. I don't smoke or drink, don't have a big red nose or red hair, am a certified professional windshield tech, and a good one. I think we should all do it this way. I could give a rip what the insurance company WANTS. The customer is the person that ultimately is footing the bill and as such has the right to have whoever they want service their vehicle as opposed to an entity the insurance company is in bed with. My invoice has everything anyone could ever want to know: My business name and address, my bus. phone #, invoice #, date, VIN, Year, Make, Model, Color, Description of Services, Charge for Services, and Total Invoice. In addition, I make a note of customer's name, address, tag number, and advise the customer to write their policy number on the invoice. Did one for a State Farm customer and they simply called to verify that I actually did the job. No faxes. No emails. No authorizations. No inspections. Just fix and get paid. I like keeping things simple.

Does your invoice include a 100% money back gaurantee?

No need to offer a money back guarantee when you do it right the first time. Business can be as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it. We do a lot of things sometimes because the other guy is doing them, when in reality most customers could care less about the majority of what we think we HAVE to do. I have run successful businesses in the automotive realm for a fair number of years and have never offered a money back guarantee. I have made concessions and on occassion done refunds, but it was because it was the right thing to do, not as a marketing gimmick. My work is primarily done for wholesale and commercial customers that are familiar with the quality of my work and my business ethics. I don't need any gimmicks, the results speak for themselves.

I have always offered a money back guarantee. If the customer is not happy with my repair they don't pay for it, simple as that. The same is true with the products I sell. If the customer is not happy with it they can send it back for a refund. It's only a gimmick if you don't do what you say you will do. I do agree with mend master that it should be a rare occasion when a customer is not happy with your work, but new customers don't know if you do good work or not so offering the guarantee in writing gives them peace of mind. My customers often joke about not paying me before the job is even complete, but I can't remember the last time someone actually said they weren't happy with the repair and didn't think they should have to pay for it.

In the spirit of complete disclosure, I don't offer a money back guarantee per se, but I have told my customers that if they weren't happy with my work they didn't owe me anything. So it may be a semantics thing. I don't call it money back because at that point they haven't paid me anything. Under promise and over deliver. May be a trite or cliche expression to some, but it is solid advice.

A warranty is not a gimmick. It's good business. It shows you stand behind your work. It gives the customer peace of mind. Mine is printed on the invoice, I have done 9,565 repairs in my career and have only had 6 warranty refunds. So failure is pretty much unheard of but the customers seem to appreciate that my money-back guarantee is there.