Safelite bad experience - tech lied on warranty claim
2021 Bronco Sport. I have used Safelte several times in the past without issue. The same local office. Get the windshield replaced. Original tech actually arrived ahead of time. Called to ask if he could come early. Got the job done. Only issue was he broke a clip on camera cover. Common no big deal. I have extra clips on hand. Took me 2 min to fix although would have been nice for the tech to let me know rather than leave the camera cover hanging. Not a huge deal.
Next day wife takes it to works. Calls me stating windshield is creaking and squeaking. I get home from work and sure enough it’s creaking worse than an 87 Omni. I’m OCD about squeaks and rattles so definitely know wasn’t like that before.
Call Safelite. CSR was able to get a warranty appointment. Tech, different one, calls at 2pm saying he’ll be there in an hour. It gets to be 5pm. No text, no calls, no tech. So finally about 5:30pm or so van pulls up. Fine -doesn’t matter let’s get her done.
Explain the issue. I don’t think he was totally getting it so I said let’s do a ride along. Take a little drive and he’s “yes I hear the noise”. Then he’s like well it’s been 9 days since the repair and it takes 10 days for the adhesive to cure. Tells me if you’re still having an issue call back in couple days. Now I get curing part. It’s summer. Yeah maybe in the winter. Does one day make difference or why just schedule warranty work within 10 days. Anyway - whatever. Basically I think it was late in the day and he didn’t to do the job. If that was the case why not just LMK you’re running way behind and need to reschedule.
Here’s the lie. I get email from Safelite “your repair has been completed”. I look at the receipt and the tech notes state - quoting exactly: “Didn’t hear no wind noise” Dude we went on a ride along and you acknowledged my issue. Now I feel like I’m going be in “he said you said” loop with Safelite. Why not tell the truth-“heard squeaking-adhesive may not be cured customer will call back if issue persists”. For sure I’m calling State Farm to voice a complaint and ask them not to pay the claim until I’m satisfied. Now a second warranty appointment will be needed.
I know there are industry pros on this sub and maybe some younger techs starting out in the business. Please be honest with your customers. If you’re running behind and can’t get the job completed just reschedule. You might save yourself a callback (or two), a negative review, a negative social media post, or have an insurance claim/payment issue. Please honestly acknowledge customer issues. Callbacks are unavoidable. How you deal with them is what separates the hacks in van from the true industry professionals.
Update: Went down to the local Safelite shop. Tech came out and it took him about 15 seconds to tell me the glass was not decked properly. He wasn’t sure why the other tech didn’t just pull the glass as problem was very obvious. Didn’t need a ride along to diagnose. Any way they are ordering new glass and I have an appointment set for a couple days from now. Same tech that checked my issue today doing the work. Not happy about multiple trips however feel good about the problem being acknowledged not getting more run around.