My Window Tint Experience: imperfections because of welding chips and

Tintguy1980 · August 1, 2015

I recently bought a new [used] car. I decided to tint the windows since we have 100* summers here.

I went with [shop]. The person I spoke with sounded knowledgeable and offered a good price.

I chose Johnson Ceramic film at 35%.

The installer finished all the windows in a bit over an hour. After I paid, he turned and said he didn't like the outcome of the rear window and offered to redo it. I didn't notice any imperfections on the rear window, but trusted his judgement and let him redo it. He said the imperfections were due to "welding chips" on the glass.

Once the car was out in the sun, I noticed a lot of imperfections. All of them were minor. I pointed them out to the installer and he said they would go away in about three weeks. He explained to me that "Ceramic film dries from the inside out" and that the majority of imperfections would disappear in three weeks.

At three weeks few of the imperfections had disappeared. I sent pictures to the installer and he didn't reply.

Here is the result at four weeks. I don't mind how it looks at the edge of the window. I'm bothered by the amount of imperfections that are found elsewhere.

I contacted the installer today. His reply "I told you it was going to look not so good it's the felt."

Can this really be cause by "felt" or "welding chips"? Or is this installer error?

OMG!

painted600rr · August 1, 2015

theres no way that installer would want his name on that job unless hes a complete hack. roll the windows down and take a pic of the top edge cut. im curious now.

justn8 · August 1, 2015

theres no way that installer would want his name on that job unless hes a complete hack. roll the windows down and take a pic of the top edge cut. im curious now.

Bet it's done butter knife style!

August 3, 2015

I actually haven't even rolled the rear windows.

I did some sleuthing and uncovered more than I thought. The [last name] have owned multiple tinting companies. I found some really negative reviews for the other companies. Others complained about similar results as mine. Seems as though [last name] start up a new tinting entity often.

The ///Man · August 6, 2015

Just spoke with the installer once again. He was verbally aggressive and ended up hanging up on me. Whenever I tried to speak, he would interrupt and ask "Are you a window tinter?"

He said he has "10 years of experience" and "3000 likes on Facebook."

He said that the defects on the rear window are from my car being old. He said that it was tinted in the past and that there was likely glue residue on the glass. He said that he cleaned the window before installing the film. Because of that, any defects that came up on the tint were "my fault." He said that the only way to ensure that there was no glue on the window was if he removed the film.

He offered to re-do the side windows, but said that he would not re-do the rear window.

Hi 11011101110,

From my experience I can see no welding spots. The spots on the edge of the wind up windows is felt trapped between the film and the glass during installation. I few spots could be excused, however there are techniques that are used to reduce those spots.

The rear window is a poor job. There is much glue/adhesive left in the glass before the second attempt was made.

I would request that it be done to a better standard, or if that is the best the installer can do, I would be getting my money back and taking it somewhere that has a good rep.

Hope this helps.

I don't mind the spots on the edge. I dislike all the other defects.

That looks like hell. The only one that might be welding splatter would be the second picture. hard to know, but when the tint is peeled, a quick run of a razor will show it, especially if you ask him if he can show you what he means. Seriously, people nit pick a speck here and there and I feel bad. I don't know how that could have been acceptable.

I've had windows tinted before and have never had any issues. I've overlooked defects, but this is too much.

I'm not really sure what my next steps should be. Should I publish my review/experience with his company name?

I would cut your losses and look up a shop with some good Yelp reviews

DaHatta · August 7, 2015

Man. I just... Wow.... I don't even... How? How could this go out the door? I redo anything the customer isn't happy with within reason... This is... I'd be more interested if you even got the film you paid for at this point... I really hope you find someone to fix that chicken scratch...

Info, not excuses! Audi back Windows are the worst imo. Almost always get "peanuts" (where it's lifted from the defroster lines) but with a little heat and time they lay just fine. As for welding chips increase had my share and a razor minimizes them but won't cure them. This is shite work and gives installers a bad name in general.

Tintmaster08 · August 8, 2015

That job sucks!! After hearing about your experience and seeing these pics, I wouldn't dare go back to that guy. Chalk that one as a loss and find a professional reputable shop to redo it, because there's no way in holy hell that guy is a professional and let alone a tinter. 3000 likes on Facebook doesn't mean jack if you're putting out crap work like that. There really should be a website to expose these clowns on.