DIY Windscreen chip repair ( Autoglass rip ! )

[Jaws]

The other day someone asked what the catch with the Autoglass thing is..
I have found out ( purely by accident )

Autoglass were plotted up at the car park doing their 'free repair ' thing ..
I asked how much .. Free if you have fully comp was the standard reply

Noo.. not what I asked, how much to do a chip ?

Oh, we charge £80.00

Is that how much you charge the insurance companies too ?

Yes

Ok, cheers


Sooooooooooooooooo
Now you know guys and gals

They are ripping off the insurance companies by large amounts, which means, ultimately, you and I will be paying for it all as the insurance companies will end up ( if they haven't done so already ) adding several quidlets to every ones premium !

Oh, and across the car park was A N Other windscreen guy ( independent chappy )
He quoted £22.00 for the same job

Which leads on to the DIY bit of the post

I had a look around and ended up ( as you do ! ) on FleaBay.. A DIY chip kit with enough bits to do two chips cost me £8.29 including postage.
It arrived next day.
Carefully read HALF the instructions and went and did the job..

Well being a bloke of course I only read half the info and of course I messed it up !!

Read the rest of the 4 lines of instructions ( yer yer,,, I know LOL !! ) and used the second half of the kit.

Happy to report what was a 1/4" bulls eye hole in the very centre of the screen has been completely repaired and is as smooth as a baby's botty !!

 

[lebesset]

I got charged £50 + vat ..or rather my insurance company did

and I guarantee the insurance companies DO NOT pay £80 !

 

[Jaws]

Even at £50 it is a rip off and ultimately one that we all end up covering !

 

[madbluemad]

I dont know what the Insurance Companies put on their premiums but its the convenience of being able too ring Autoglass from work and have them come to you and fix it there and then.

Iv'e had them ot three times in twelve months and I reckon its a great service. If I had the time it would be great to DIY but I dont so its Autoglass call out everytime.

When talking about cost, you have got to remember that Autoglass have to maintain a fleet of vehicles, a rake of overhead business costs and of course the employees pay, so, its not really that much for the convenience.

Jim

 

[vwalan]

life is a rip off . we used to buy windsceeens for vw type 2,s for 30quid .we fitted it .if we had the windscreen people fit them 150quid.
if we added 50-60quid it was ok for us and very good for the customer.
some hadnt got windscreen cover.

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[Pugboxter]

Just got the insurance renewal for my car and it has gone up from £163.80 with breakdown cover included to £206.85 without breakdown cover this year, add breakdown cover and it is £232.05, that's a jump of £68.25

and I have looked around for better quotes and they're coming out at around £300 to £400! last year all the quotes were around £200 or so.

 

[chrisshipp]

Not only a rip-off but in our case on a Mercedes, totally unacceptable repair and worse than the original chip - had to get the windscreen replaced after they'd bodged it! I wouldn't recommend it at all!

 

[pappajohn]

the insurance companies, and subsequently us, may be being ripped off by autoglass but the thing is, we are paying for the service anyway so why pay again to do it DIY ?

you're paying for the service regardless, so use it and get the guarantee that goes with it. :thumb:

 

[andyman]

I have never had a stone chip repaired yet that looked what I would call aceptable. Not uncommon for them to crack the screen when they do the repair. We run 8 company vehicles so chips are common. Had 1 done on a lease car once and still got billed for a new screen as they said the repair was unacetable.
Always thought the whole thing is a con. Better of waiting for the chip to crack and ahve a new screen.

Andy

 

[AuldCodger]

Yes I am afraid we are all paying more than required due to insurance companies having national agreements with certain companies.
Your local plumbers, electricians etc. are all being squeezed out by the national multi trade companies employed by the insurers, if you do insist on your local firm being allowed to quote the insurers invariably slow down the whole process but at the end of the day your local firm usually undercuts the nationals by a substantial sum.
I can speak from personal experience, never lost an insurance quotation against a national company employed by an insurer.
Not a great situation for your local companies. :Angry:

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[ShiftZZ]

I am with Admiral and have had 3 windscreens in the last three years, the most I have been charged is £80. So autoglass is a con.

ShiftZZ

 

[Snowbird]

had a chip in the RV screen for some time now,whilst at Peterborough show I asked the man touting for work to fix it.
The first thing he asked was if I had fully comp insurance,to which I replied YES.
Second question was who with,I replied Adrian Flux,Answer came back...No they wont pay the charge as you have to pay the first £50,so wait for it to crack and have a new screen.

 

[atakd]

I dont know what the Insurance Companies put on their premiums but its the convenience of being able too ring Autoglass from work and have them come to you and fix it there and then.

Iv'e had them ot three times in twelve months and I reckon its a great service. If I had the time it would be great to DIY but I dont so its Autoglass call out everytime.

When talking about cost, you have got to remember that Autoglass have to maintain a fleet of vehicles, a rake of overhead business costs and of course the employees pay, so, its not really that much for the convenience.

Jim

Hmmm. If it costs £80 for Autoglass to do the repair when you could buy a DIY kit for ~£10 + 1 hour labour you would have to make £70 per hour for this service to be viable. If you do then good luck to you - if my salary was around £150K I wouldn't be messing about fixing windscreens either. Sadly, I have to rely on money saving tips like this. Autoglass's overheads don't really feature in the economics of value for money.

 

[Bulletguy]

My experiences of windscreen chips have all been good......and very successful too. Each time no charge and done in about twenty minutes. Of course cost is covered by insurance.....but why complain about something you aren't actually having to pay out for?

The only time we do have to dig in our pockets is when a total windscreen replacement has to be done, and the cost of that depends on the excess you decided to gamble at the time of insurance renewal.

 

[Jaws]

but why complain about something you aren't actually having to pay out for?

So please tell us who you THINK is paying for the repairs then ?
Ultimately it is all of us that have motor vehicle insurance.. It is one of the many small components that go to make up your premium

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[eddie]

So please tell us who you THINK is paying for the repairs then ?
Ultimately it is all of us that have motor vehicle insurance.. It is one of the many small components that go to make up your premium

So insure with a company that doesn't offer it as a service if it bothers you.

Why is some one making a profit a ripp off? It is a disturbing trend on the forums that everything is a ripp off!

I paid a landscape gardener £500.00 the other day to cut down some trees and such. I could have posted "Gardeners in the UK: Ripp Off:Angry: Because all they did was turn up in a taxed and insured, MOT'd and maintained vehicle, after I phoned them having seen their regular adverts in the local press and heard their adverts on the local radio, unloaded their purchased and maintained and insured tools and cut down the trees and chipped them and took them away, having worked hard all day to earn their wages! which allthough there were two of them was not £250 a day after all of their true expenses.

The point that I am making is that Autoglass are offering a service, if I use their service they will come to me, do the job and deal with all the paperwork. This has to be paid for so I think it very harsh to call this a "ripp off"

 

[Geo]

I agree totaly with Eddie on this one
Also as an aside, would you drive with a cracked chassis or would you have it welded
Not a fair comparison I here you say ----wrong:thumb:
A windscreen is part of the structual integrity of modern vehicles and is extreamly strong (without chips that is)oh:
Geo

 

[Terry]

Sitting on the fence here If the people concerned were told a price and they agree to pay it then they should have no qualms.If they do not agree with the price then let them go down the ebay DIY route. I pay insurance every year, never making a claim is that a rip off
terry
edit forgot to say now I know you can get a kit if I ever get a chip that will be the route I will take heehee

 

[Jaws]

Why is some one making a profit a ripp off? It is a disturbing trend on the forums that everything is a ripp off!

Quite frankly if you are going to resort to putting words in my mouth and trying to make it out I have said something which quite obviously I haven't I do not think it is worth carrying on the discussion

Sorry... I find the type of thing absolutely pathetic.


Here is a bit of REAL info .. not guessed.. not made up.. not twisting words...

There is ONE pool of information used by ALL assurance assessors
It matters not if you opt for a company offering all manner of widgets or not.. The risk assessment will remain the same and the premium based on the risk across the whole assurance spectrum

Some of the smaller individual companies are now offering specifically tailored policies but they usually work out dearer any way


And to address another point you make
Almost no one realises how much Autoglass will charge their insurance company
They take it on trust their costings will be fair
It is pretty obvious to ANYONE who actually takes the time to read ALL the inputs rather than just the little bit that suits there own argument that a good many people are unaware of what is going on behind there backs..

Perhaps there are folk who prefer such info is not placed in a public domain where a good many people will see it, preferring such info to remain 'available but out of sight'

And to George
Depends on where the crack is and what chassis it is..
But in general no.. Equally I would not repair the chassis with poly filler ( after all, all the crack repairs are merely a resin fill and do not give the integral strength back ! )

So I guess you advocate never repair only replace ( but I appreciate I may well be wrong with that assumption ) ... I think in an ideal world ( i.e. one I am filthy rich in ! ) I would absolutely agree

 

[eddie]

Quite frankly if you are going to resort to putting words in my mouth and trying to make it out I have said something which quite obviously I haven't I do not think it is worth carrying on the discussion

Sorry... I find the type of thing absolutely pathetic.


Here is a bit of REAL info .. not guessed.. not made up.. not twisting words...

There is ONE pool of information used by ALL assurance assessors
It matters not if you opt for a company offering all manner of widgets or not.. The risk assessment will remain the same and the premium based on the risk across the whole assurance spectrum

Some of the smaller individual companies are now offering specifically tailored policies but they usually work out dearer any way


And to address another point you make
Almost no one realises how much Autoglass will charge their insurance company
They take it on trust their costings will be fair
It is pretty obvious to ANYONE who actually takes the time to read ALL the inputs rather than just the little bit that suits there own argument that a good many people are unaware of what is going on behind there backs..

Perhaps there are folk who prefer such info is not placed in a public domain where a good many people will see it, preferring such info to remain 'available but out of sight'

And to George
Depends on where the crack is and what chassis it is..
But in general no.. Equally I would not repair the chassis with poly filler ( after all, all the crack repairs are merely a resin fill and do not give the integral strength back ! )

So I guess you advocate never repair only replace ( but I appreciate I may well be wrong with that assumption ) ... I think in an ideal world ( i.e. one I am filthy rich in ! ) I would absolutely agree

Your first post "They are ripping of insurance companies" So I am not putting words in your mouth! And you wrote several more paragrapghs after saying

if you are going to resort to putting words in my mouth and trying to make it out I have said something which quite obviously I haven't I do not think it is worth carrying on the discussion

Then you said "Sorry... I find the type of thing absolutely pathetic." Which bit? that I disagreed or that I quoted your first post?

Eddie

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[Jaws]

Oh dear ....

There is a constituency somewhere missing out on a good politician !!

perhaps keeping stuff to single line and shout a bit might help ?

NO WHERE DID I SAY OR SUGGEST MAKING A PROFIT IS WRONG

There is more but I think you might have a touch of A.D.D so you are proly fiddling with the mouse now and have lost interest

But in case you are still with me Eddie, of course I do not object to you disagreeing with my words.. my god what a terrible boring place the world would be if we all took the same stance

I strongly object to people pretending to be quoting me so as to skew a statement I have made in their favour

 

[eddie]

Oh dear ....

There is a constituency somewhere missing out on a good politician !!

perhaps keeping stuff to single line and shout a bit might help ?

NO WHERE DID I SAY OR SUGGEST MAKING A PROFIT IS WRONG

There is more but I think you might have a touch of A.D.D so you are proly fiddling with the mouse now and have lost interest

But in case you are still with me Eddie, of course I do not object to you disagreeing with my words.. my god what a terrible boring place the world would be if we all took the same stance

I strongly object to people pretending to be quoting me so as to skew a statement I have made in their favour

"They are ripping off the insurance companies by large amount"

So why are they ripping us off then? Is it because they charge £80 and you can do it for £8.29 They do not use £8.29 kits and the repair is much better than a DIY kit.

I don't know what ADD is and I dont know what "proly" is either.

I have used Autoglass and am happy with the service, the result and the warranty that I enjoy. I have kept DIY windscreen kits in my own vehicles for years and would use one in an emergency. This would be in the same spirit that we keep an emergency dental kit in the, an emergency and wouldn't consider paying a dentist to do a proper job on our return a ripp off.

The great thing about an open market is that you can choose not to use an insurer that includes any service that you feel you can handle your self so not forced to pay for anything that you dont want

Eddie

 

[Jaws]

In one post you elude to being a person who 'knows the score and is a man of the world', the next you pretend not to know what this or that is..

'Proly.. A shortening of the word probably.. commonly used in forum posts and text messages

A.D.D. Attention Deficit Disorder

Tell you what..

Forget it.. I refuse to be drawn any further.

Of course you are absolutely correct in all things.. and I bow to my superior in all things Link Removed

Now then.. discussion over.. teas are on me at the next meet :thumb:

 

[eddie]

In one post you elude to being a person who 'knows the score and is a man of the world', the next you pretend not to know what this or that is..

Don't you just hate it when people put words in your mouth or twist what you say?

I'll bring the biccies

Cheers

Eddie

 

[Jaws]

Nowt like going full circle !

Rich tea for me ( I am a natural born dunker ! )

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