Safelite Beware

I've seen a recent barrage of TV commercials for Safelite lately, and I just cringe every time I see one. They're almost as annoying as the PajamaGram commercials; at least those end after Valentine's day. My experience with Safelite has been quite negative, and I thought I'd share my experience.

I visited Safelite twice; both times in New York. I'm not sure if it's a franchise or whatever, so it's quite possible that every location could be different. My concern is that the company is all marketing; which is always a bad thing when it comes to auto repair. Their jingle goes "Safelite repair, Safelite replace". Remember this.

This is how it worked both times with me. I had a rock chip in my windshield. I drove in and eventually some tech came over with a clipboard. They look at the chip, and then explain that they can't guarantee that they can repair it; and that they might make it worse. You have to agree that you understand this.

Then they took the car somewhere and 20 minutes later came back and said "Sorry, we couldn't repair it, but there's no charge". Meanwhile, they've made the crack slightly worse. I believe that this is their MO; they hope that you come back and get the windshield replaced, which is where they make their real money.

If the chip is not in the direct driver's view you don't have to get it fixed; I ended up selling the first car with the chip. I had BMW replace my second windshield; most insurance policies have full glass coverage and if you tell them that you want BMW to do it they'll usually pay for it. My insurance co, Allstate, recommended some 3rd party glass company; I told them I wanted BMW to do it to make sure it got done right, and they agreed. I'm not sure that BMW actually did it, but at least whoever did it would know that BMW would be inspecting it and would have to approve the job. Considering that your insurance company is paying for it; it makes no sense to use some 3rd party.