FlexFilm failing

[rvpjr]

Wow.  Entertaining thread.  It is amazing what you miss when you are away.  Any one who wants to talk to me can always call me anytime.  770-401-5555.  For what I see in the pictures there is definitely a film failure.  I sell three automotive films which are dyed (Omniflex), nano carbon, (Terraflex), and nano carbon ceramic (Panaflex).   I have been involved with these products for almost 5 years.

 

The source of the dyed film (omniflex) is 100% made in the USA.  As a matter of fact, the raw materials involved in this film  as well as the adhesive and  the dying process is in most domestic window films that are made in the USA. The Nano films I sell such as Terraflex (carbon) and Panaflex (carbon ceramic) are from a completely different manufacturing source and contain no dye.    The the dyed Omniflex is probably what you see in the pictures because I have had problems with that product recently from a laminate adhesive failure.  We have been selling this product for about 5 years and have not had any trouble from it until now.  Please let me make myself clear... Everything we sold 5 years ago has not come back.  Everything we sold 4 years ago has not come back.  Everything we sold 3 years ago has not come back. Some Omniflex product  we sold 2 years ago have come back.  Nobody has turned in a warranty claim to Flexfilm for Omniflex that has been sold 1 year ago or less for a film failure.  

 

We have traced the failure back to approximately 100 rolls.  These rolls appeared to have nothing wrong with them until after 15 months to 24 months. The back windows would finger and the side windows would finger.  The manufacturer admitted that a defective laminate adhesive was inadvertently used on the film.  Hot, humid climates will cause the product to fail rapidly with extreme exposure to the sun.  Dealers who have had this problem that reported it to Flexfilm have been taken care of if they excepted our help by replacing the bad film and labor credit.  Any customers who report it to social media have not been compensated by facebook or tintdude that we know about.

 

Considering Flexfilm has sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of Omniflex and we have only seen a handful of failures in the past 5 years, this film has been an overall success. As we look at the past five years with Omniflex, we have actually had Zero warranty claims except what has come from these 100 bad rolls that were sold around 2 years ago.  We have seen most dyed films have some type of failure within 3 years from every manufacturer that exists and with a higher percentage than Omniflex has had. 

 

If anyone really knows me or Flexfilm, then you know we are a Nano company.  We have been promoting nano technology for 5 years now.  The funny thing is that our Nano film has only had two warranty claims in 5 years.  These were isolated incidences and installer error could not be ruled out.  I'm not blaming the installer but the failures were inconclusive as to what caused them and they only affected one window on each car and not the other windows.  I drove many miles to personally see each one because we simply never have film failures. I also personally participated in re installing the defective windows.  

 

At Flexfilm we are going to make lemonade out of lemons by discontinuing dyed film.  Please do not accuse me of "running" from a problem.  You can accuse me of "running " to a solution.  Dyed film no longer works in our business model.  Dye has proven itself by this thread alone to be like playing Russian Roulette.  Even though we have had great success with Omniflex, the odds are just too great for failure compared to the proven track record of Nano technoloogy.  Dye film is too expensive for what you get.  Dye will fade as soon as it is exposed to the sun over time and dye is only useful to filter visible light. Most manufactures even encourage it to be installed with a product that can be purchased at Dollar General made for babies.  At some point you have to upgrade your beeper to a smart phone. 

.  

Flexfilm is going to only sell Nano Technology automotive products.  We now can offer nano products at the same price point as premium dyed film.  We have no dye in our film.  We have increased solar benefits. And most important, we have a proven track record of virtually no film failures in almost 5 years with nano technology.  I have not seen any product line in the industry that can make that claim. We are going with it.  If there is any other product that is that reliable,  please let me know.  I will buy it.  

 

Just to clarify...  A film failure is a film that has been damaged by the sun over a long period of time and has to be removed and replaced.  A quality control issue is a problem detected with the film off the roll and the remedy is to immediately replace the defective product with new non defective product.  We deal with quality control issues from time to time and replace film and pay shipping anytime it is necessary to satisfy customers.  Quality control issues are not to be confused with film failures as stated above. 

[Barrerasr81]

I've been waiting for a reply from Ralph to see what response he was going to give and i think it was answered perfectly. I have so many different companies offer me different films but im not sold easily sold. I always get the same sales pitches. I guess you can say i'm sometimes sold on people. Ralph seems very confident on what he is selling and that makes me want to try his film. I love when someone knows what there selling. If you can send me some info Ralph that would be awesome. I've been using Wintech's Carbon film for about 5 years now but it has a real bad haze when the sun hits it, so ive been looking for a new carbon film. other then the haze i haven't had any other issues with it.

[Booms]

Nice Ralph.

[Bham]

Very Nice Ralph  I think you answered most everything just fine.  It doesn't sound any different than any other film line.  Except for the new plan of dropping dyed film altogether.  Interesting.  

 

Good luck with your new business model.  I hope this new direction continues to work well for you.  

[Stonecoldsteveobvious]

Dyed is not the way to go especially in the south

[gosurfing85]

Thanks for the response Ralph. So this is something that is known about? That is, since you said you've been able to trace approximately 100 rolls that have failed like this. I guess we were just one of the unlucky ones. Since you've been able to trace those rolls don't you know who they were sold to; and how many of the rolls were purchased by a certain company? I'm just curious if we can expect more cars coming back or if it was just a couple bad rolls we purchased?

[gosurfing85]

Thank you again for the response

[rvpjr]

Hey gosurfing85,

 

We have an idea of what rolls went to what customers but it is not a perfect science.  We are not exactly sure if they are all bad.  Sometimes a roll may be "bad" but not actually cause a problem.  If we sold a "bad" roll to someone in Wisconsin, it may never come back with a failure due to the climate.  If we sell that roll to someone in Florida, it would be more likely to come back.  We offer a life time warranty and if a customer makes a claim to a Dealer, we take care of it provided the warranty process was done correctly.  We have actually taken care of most of the claims without asking for warranty cards, receipts, and samples of the failed film. We just paid it.   Most tinters do not take the warranty seriously and fail to fill out the warranty card at all.  

[TTS]

Bravo Ralph ! 

 

That was a very stand up answer to a very long thread.

 

If I was a Flex dealer I would sleep well knowing you will take care of them if the need arise.

[tintcracker]

Hey gosurfing85,

We have an idea of what rolls went to what customers but it is not a perfect science. We are not exactly sure if they are all bad. Sometimes a roll may be "bad" but not actually cause a problem. If we sold a "bad" roll to someone in Wisconsin, it may never come back with a failure due to the climate. If we sell that roll to someone in Florida, it would be more likely to come back. We offer a life time warranty and if a customer makes a claim to a Dealer, we take care of it provided the warranty process was done correctly. We have actually taken care of most of the claims without asking for warranty cards, receipts, and samples of the failed film. We just paid it. Most tinters do not take the warranty seriously and fail to fill out the warranty card at all.

That's how we are, we don't even hand out warranty cards, we just have that much faith in the film we sell. Not once have I seen a comeback from film failure.