Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Broken Windshield... No Reason To Crack-Up (II)

The previous posting, we explored the benefits and drawbacks of windshield repair vs. windshield replacement. Today, we’ll pick off where we left off and walk you through the rest of the replacement process.


Making the Call
Once you have supplied your glass company with some basic information (policy number, vehicle make and model, etc.), one of two things will happen. Depending on your insurance company, your work may be finished at this point. Some companies allow us to take your information and file the claim for you – easy as pie. Other insurance companies employ a third party administrator (TPA) to register claims, and they make things a tad more complicated. Easiest case scenario, the TPA allows your agent to make a three-way call with us, leaving you off the hook. Other TPAs want to speak to the customer directly, so you’ll need to make the call with us, but don’t worry, we’ll give you the run-down on what questions to expect and how best to respond.

Your Right To Choose
There is one TPA that also happens to be a glass company, the largest auto glass company in the U.S. actually (which might seem like a conflict of interest, and that’s because it is!) Safelite frequently uses “steering” to try to persuade or frighten the insured into using their glass company or another company on their network. Their common approach is telling you they can’t warranty our work and that you may incur addition charges. The first claim is true, but irrelevant, because American Glass & Mirror offers its own warranty. The second claim is purely false. If you have full-glass coverage, you won’t pay one red cent over the cost of your deductible. You, the insured, have the right to choose whatever glass company you’d like, so don’t let yourself be intimidated by these industry bullies!

Your Appointment
After we’ve gotten the go ahead from your insurance company, we’re all ready to install. During your initial call, we set up a convenient time for your replacement. Depending on the windshield, this process takes about an hour and your vehicle needs to sit for another hour to allow the adhesives time to set up. We come to you, work, home, anywhere, so there is no interference to your schedule.

As you’ve discovered, windshield repair and replacement is nothing to fret about. It’s not a trip to the dentist or an audit, it’s even less demanding than an oil change because glass companies come to you, at your convenience! Next time your windshield catches a rock on a sunny day, keep the storm clouds at bay, remember that American Glass & Mirror is just a phone call away!