Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Autoglass & a tale of woe

We have had 3 stone damaged windscreens in 3 months.
The first in Nov was a replacement due to a chip & crack on my MG ZS. Done by autoglass very professionally at their dept due to reseting the drivers aids.

The second was on SWMBOs Polo done by an Autoglass competitor at our house with a date & 1hr time slot fixed & met.

The third was another stone chip on the MG !!
Churchill as the insurer sends us off again to Autoglass & I opt for an at home fix. What a tale of woe.
Autoglass have a new computer system so the night before the first appointment they cancel. I can't access my online account to pay despite many password resets & the booking email sends you to a phone number that sends an sms link back to the website. If you need to talk to a human the number is 03443710041.

Today the best they could do was an 8 hr slot.

The technician was great & the job done excellently though he jus tappeared & Autoglass sent me a passive agressive that he had arrived.
He told me they have a new system since Dec and nothing works. 3 of his colleagues have left in frustration.

So if you have a choice (I didn't) I'd avoid them for a while.

In the middle of this with the Coupe at the moment. Same as you describe with the short notice cancellation.

Coupe got a whack in the middle of the windscreen.
Insurance (admiral) pointed me at them and said just pay the contribution and show them your policy on your phone.
No questions or trouble from Admiral as I have it included in the policy so all good there.

It has now been almost 2 months.
I guess you don't get an order for an Aero Coupe screen daily.

First they could not source a screen.
I checked with Williams and they said they could get one, so pointed Autoglass at Williams as a source?
They said "blah contract blah blah"
Anyway it was meant to be done yesterday but they cancelled 6pm night before. Same as yours.
I called to get a revised date following a deluge of SMS, email etc.
They apologised for the error and said they appreciated the cancellation was short notice.
Gave me a date 2 weeks from now. I got a "be there by 9am, clear at 12.00"
Exeter depot visit due to vehicle type which is fine by me.

Feels like they cut corners on a new computer software deployment.

The Aero S2 was done a few years back, Reading depot, they did a good job and were careful.

I understand Autoglass also own 2 of the competitors through their parent Belron as well as various other companies in that line of business.

The replacement & repair glass auto industry has been a bit of a joke for years, obviously insurers beat them 'til they squeak on price to get the approved supplier status - so they respond with cost cutting

For many years there's been a constant churn of 'em going bust, being bought out or just traded for their market name & sales chain

Same experience of Autoglass as John has had. Had my Mercedes Vito windscreen changed in the late summer. The new Autoglass system doesn't work for the customer or the technician. In spite of paying the excess online, it said I had not paid and the appointment would be cancelled. I phoned them and they said the appointment would stand and I could pay the technician! The technician was fabulous and frustrated by their system... he managed to log the job as paid for in the end but it was a pain for him too. The system is Salesforce by the way... and clearly the implementation is not for for purpose.


Nick

I know every chip repair varies in quality, due to the chip itself; however, my perception is that the actually quality of the chip repair has regressed.

Going back 10-years, I had chips repaired and the result was almost invisible. In recent times, I've felt like I could do as competent a job with Superglue

Most recent one, the 'technician' arrived and almost immediately went into 'justify the end result being poor' mode and 'the intention is to restore the structural rigidity of the screen, not make the damage disappear'. This is before he'd even started the job!

Needless to say, the end result looked like he'd squirted a bit of gunk into the star but it was still there.

Perhaps someone will say they've been forced to use eco / environmentally friendly / non-toxic glue or resin but I feel there as been a reasonable drop in repair quality of chips / divots, whatever you want to call it.

A few months back while driving through pouring rain I heard a loud hit on my 991 windscreen, so loud was it that I expected to see an instant crack on the screen, but none was obvious, so thought I had been lucky. However it turned out that the screen was cracked right in the top centre of the screen where there is a darkened area of the screen immediately in front of the rear view mirror... First thought was Autoglass, went on to their website be confronted by their system which caused me to pause and think.....The 991 is covered by a Porsche extended warranty (insurance policy) which in general requires the vehicle to be repaired to standards matching original manufacture and by Porsche approved tecs using original Porsche supplied parts... Hmm..

I also have windscreen insurance as part of my Footman James classic policy, who initially suggested that there was a circa £800 limit on windscreen replacement, though when the time came they paid out for the replacement of the Porsche supplied screen, which was no doubt fitted by a specialist contractor engaged by the Porsche dealership...

All of which seems just a tad OTT, when there would seem to be less expensive and perhaps more convenient ways of having a windscreen replaced, however I suspected a Porsche main dealer would have more ...err... influence on the whole process than a private individual, should anything not quite turn out to match Porsche standard of expectations, or as near to it as one might hope. Happy to report that there was not the slightest sign that a windscreen replacement task had been carried out on the car, other than the large crack and various tiny chips no doubt gathered over the years on the original screen were no longer there...

Was my route to repair the best way to avoid issues ...Hmm..? The main thing is that it worked for me, all be it I required to deliver my car into the hands of my Porsche dealership, and as a service was also due around the same time I managed to hit two stones with the one bird.... yeah actually heard that said before, not easily forgotten ? (-:

Yet to arrive at the bottom line which will be interesting to see the renewal cost of the 991 `s classic policy, due in any time in the next month or so... Fingers crossed..

If the repairs are so poor why not buy your own repair kit ?

One thing to apparently watch for is whether a replacement windscreen is genuine OE or not.
A while back there were discussions on this in pistonheads where contributors were reporting lower quality screens when using insurers "preferred suppliers". This was the insurance company looking to reduce their cost. Some typical issues reported were
Imperfections in the glass, a "waviness" in the view as if varying thickness.
Poor fitting including leaks.
Extended waiting for repair, usually for non mainstream cars.
The discussions they had with their insurers tended to be about returning the vehicle to pre-problem standard/condition so OE screens should be used not substitutes. A lot depended on the policy wording.
With a Morgan there are two considerations.
Older trads without windscreen heating wires can be done by good repairers and a good glazier can cut new screens from vehicle glass ( think larger flat panes for buses etc with correct grade glass.
Newer heated screen cars need to go via dealers/factory as, apparently, supply of a new screen has to be through them. The manufacturer doesn't deal direct.
Luckily the chips I have on my car are negligible, no signs of spreading and outside the MOT zone.
A few years ago I did get a fright when seeing a large stone fly straight at me and bounce off leaving a chip that meant new screen. Not on the Morgan but a Focus. A mate was an Autoglass fitter so he did the replacement quickly and a good job.
So, suck up the excess and prepare for the renewal cost going up!

I was never certain about the value of including windscreen cover in my policy being the tight git I am.

Then the Coupe got a thump and being almost upright it cannot deflect like most modern cars.
The tiny little glass on the front of the Coupe was apparently £1100 of which my excess was £350 which I considered good value at that point!

I was amazed at the cost of such a small bit of flat windscreen, even with the heating element.
The chap in the depot then pointed out that the Range Rover next to mine was £2300 due to all the elements and size plus it needed to be bonded in so the car was in overnight to set!
Apparently some glass with the chromatic change capability can be really sensational to purchase and they prepare a meeting room to break the news if it is not covered by insurance.

Feels like a bit of a cornered market occuring as per Simons comments!

I'm thinking about changing my windscreen from glass to acrylic or Lexan. Has anybody done this?
Can someone tell me the thickness of the glass windscreen?