I read with interest the consumer complaintss about safelite autoglass.
As an ex-employee I can confirm that there are many occasions when customers referred by their insurance companies are paying a substantially higher price for their auto-glass parts than if they called safelite from a 'phone directory etc.
The important thing to keep in mind is that Safelite agrees prices with each insurance company for each make/model/glass part installed or supplied by safelite to customers of that insurance company.
In theory this should give the customer a competitive price BUT in practice the customer may pay as much as $100 more for a windshield etc than if they paid as a "cash" (ie no insurance) customer - and it could be even more.
How can this happen? - (note that any given situation could be either just one or a mix of these):
[1] The customer may well have a high deductible (the amount the customer pays - the insurance company pays anything over this amount).
Many customers are confused about deductibles and think that they have to pay either the full amount every time or, sometimes, that they have to pay BOTH the deductible and then safelite for any autoglass parts.
E.G. If the deductible is $500 and safelite quotes $370 for a windshield - then the customer may think that this is better than paying $500 - so they don't question this price or ask about a corresponding "cash" price - which could be $100 LOWER.
[2] The customer may be having other work (body work etc) done to the vehicle under the same claim as the autoglass damage.
In this situation the customer may be paying their deductible amount - $250 - $500 etc for the glass and the insurance company is paying for the body damage.
Again, the customer doesn't question the "insurance price" of the glass part (s) as they think they are being looked after by their insurance company. Again, though, they are paying more for their autoglass than a corresponding "cash" customer would pay.
[3] The part is a vent, quarterlight or back glass - glass parts which may be privacy tinted and which are usually quite expensive - e.G. A back glass - privacy tinted and heated for an suv may be $1000 list price but there are many back glasses
which will be considerably cheaper for a "cash" price than a deductible of $500 paid in full towards an "inflated" insurance price.
There are many variations on these but the points to remember are:
In all cases the safelite employee has strict instructions (via the ever - present screen prompts) NOT to quote a cash price to the customer - UNLESS THE CUSTOMER EITHER QUESTIONS THE PRICE OR TELLS THE EMPLOYEE THEY HAVE A LOWER QUOTE FROM A COMPETITOR.
[1] always ask for a corresponding "cash" quote - specifically ask if the price quoted is the lowest price on offer - be persistent!!!
[2] NEVER ACCEPT A QUOTE WITHOUT CALLING SEVERAL GLASS SHOPS FOR PRICES (or checking on-line)
- there are many major players in the autoglass business who will offer you a discounted price against a safelite (or any other) quote.
[3] Make sure you are being offered like-for-like:
[a] does the price include taxes and and mouldings etc -
make sure you ask for an "Installed" price - Safelite empoyees are instructed to only quote a pre-tax price and to say "plus any local taxes".
[b] If you want original manufacturer glass (also called OEM, factory or dealer glass - eg Carlite for Ford) then make sure you state that at the outset - and get a dealer quote as well!
Finally, DON'T be put-off or distracted by the reams of scripted presentations that Safelite empoyees are obliged to push at you.
Make it clear at the start that you DONT want wipers!!! (safelite management are fanatical about selling these to make extra revenue for the company - workers are monitored for compliance with Safelite's meaningless presentation garbage -
so they have to say it - but you DONT have to ACCEPT it!
If I seem a little hard on safelite here - it's no more than they deserve!!!
I dedicate this consumer complaints both to the customers and to the hapless and abused safelite call-center workers - not for nothing is it referred to within the company as "the dungeon".
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