Dissapointed customer

[Disappointed customer]

I have a horror story that isnt over. I'd like to see how others might handle given the pros and cons of what outcome they would expect.

 

I have a car I'm pretty proud to own and I like it looking it's best. I take really good care of it. I almost spend more time caring for the inside and out than I do actually driving it. I just love to look at it. It's not a super expensive car but it is a low production with rare options and low miles. It's only 6 years old but most of the parts are unavailable. 

 

I wanted to get the windows tinted to protect the interior for when its outside. I did my research and decided on HuperOptic. It's one of the premium films and the installers are certified by the manufacturer. The shop I found had rave reviews from the local Tesla community. Checked for any negative reviews and didnt see any red flags. I booked an appointment and when I arrived the installer recognized the car and its rarity. We had a consultation and some of the things I was interested would require some invasive trim removal and I declined and stated my concerns of avoiding any chance of damage.

 

So I felt confident I had an installer that understood the importance of being careful with this car.

 

When I arrive to pick it up after the tint was installed it was dark and raining. I saw the installer doing what looks like a quick detail on it but then pulls it outside before letting me see it. I was able to check it out after another day of rain.

 

And I nearly cried....the car looked fabulous with the tint but...here were it gets ugly. 4 2inch scratches on the A pillar, a long straight scratch across nearly side to side on the sunroof glass, a 4inch interrupted scratch in the rear window frits area, and a really bad jagged gouge in the rear stationary glass frits, the installer removed the rear window roof shade and gouged and cracked it, then just sandwiched new double sided tape on the old tape between the car and the shade which didnt stick and nearly blew off when I went to the store.

 

I called the installer who turns out to be the owner of the 3 stores in my area and made an appointment to discuss what to do. In the mean time I called one of the other locations and the manager said if they cause the damage the installer pays for a replacement.

 

When had a chance to discussed the damage with the owner he said the glass shop might be able to fix the frits on the rear glass, maybe polish the sunroof scratch, but definitely swap the rear quarter glass, and he will polish away the scratches.

 

I called the glass shop he referred me to and asked if they could fix the frits and polish the glass and he said NO. Both would need to be replaced and he would have to order OEM from the dealer.

 

I called the dealer to see if these are even available or if I'd need to find one from a salvage yard like I did with the quarter glas. 

The dealer said they are special order,.

 

Special order could mean my order will get canceled, refunded and I'll be notified that these are discontinued. If these are available they will take time to ship. If they arent it will take time to track down a used one and cross your fingers it isnt scratched too.

 

I have the new roof shade and used quater glass because I could find these and I was hoping not to have to replace the other glass.

 

Assuming I find new or used OEM rear and sunroof glass it will need installation and new tint. Which means the potential for more damage and also, new glass means the possibility of leaks...which it currently doesnt have.

 

So here are the numbers at my cost.

$225 for new OEM rear roof shade,

$100 for used OEM quarter glass,

$460 for new OEM rear window glass,

$300 for new OEM sunroof glass, 

🤷‍♂️installation at owners expense. 

 

Price of the original tint installation,

$1550 included a 10% gratuity cause I'm a nice guy🤪

 

I hate being put in this position!! I was fine with the price assuming I was paying for just an upgrade but really disappointed that I have to make repairs because of it. I was really looking forward to attending this years local car meets but know I'm just sick to my stomach. I'd post pictures but... just know the damage sucks...

 

So what would you do? Would you insist on replacing the glass on a rare car with more intrusive repairs at more shops with the possibility of more problems and possibly leaks...

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Disappointed customer
Spelling and grammar

[Disappointed customer]

What the heck...

heres my car before the tint...

 And one after...

Here are some pictures of the damage. Bare in mind it was really difficult to take pictures of the damage without reflections. 

That's the A pillar. There are 3 more scratches just like that in proximity but it's hard to get them to appear on camera.

This looks like a picture of my phone, but if you look close you'll see the jagged scratch on the quarter glass frits.

These look small, but it was really hard to get the rest to show on camera.

This is the crack in the rear roof shade. It looks small but its black and the crack shows really white. This rear roof shade was brand new 2 months ago...

This is the gouges left from the scraper he used to remove it.

These images are showing the gap between the rear roof shade and the car where the double sided tape was supposed to adhere but didnt.

[Young Tinter]

I really don't understand how all these scratches were made, unless the installer was hand cutting. When you reinstall the glass and tint you most definitely should not have to worry about scratches again. Im my experience scratches are very rare during plotter cut installation.

[Tintguy1980]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:26 AM, Disappointed customer said:

I have a horror story that isn't over.

No it isn't over by any means.

 

My take:

1. It looks like an inexperienced gorilla handled this job with a wore out razor knife.

2. The shop owner is on the hook and he then must get his $$ back from the offending installer(s).

3. If owner pushes back, your only recourse would be to spend your own $$ to fix it right and then litigate in small claims, serving the shop owner with the papers.

4. Always take the time to drive down to a tint shop to see their work before scheduling with the type car you have described (aka buyer beware).

 

[Disappointed customer]

15 hours ago, Young Tinter said:

I really don't understand how all these scratches were made, unless the installer was hand cutting. When you reinstall the glass and tint you most definitely should not have to worry about scratches again. Im my experience scratches are very rare during plotter cut installation.

Yup, hand cut, no plotter. I'm guessing the A pillar was a ring and he was grabbing it while he was doing the front windsheild.

[Dano]

 I have to agree with @Tintguy1980. You could also get three reasonable bodyshop estimates and ask the owner for the value of the average plus the install in a cashiers check in exchange for a hold harmless agreement. Basically go away and shut up money. If he's smart he'll give it to you. It doesn't matter if you actually fix it or not, he needs to make you whole for the value that you are deficient after his work was performed. You also do not have to use "his guy" for any of the repairs.

 

4 hours ago, Disappointed customer said:

Yup, hand cut, no plotter. I'm guessing the A pillar was a ring and he was grabbing it while he was doing the front windsheild.

I wouldn't blame that on not using a plotter. A good freehand installer may never touch a blade on open glass, but instead use a grease pencil to template a pattern, often better than what comes off the machine. Cookie cutter isn't always great. I do both regularly.

 

What we're looking at here is just plain poor attention to detail. I hate it for what it does to the industry.

[Disappointed customer]

2 hours ago, Dano said:

 I have to agree with @Tintguy1980. You could also get three reasonable bodyshop estimates and ask the owner for the value of the average plus the install in a cashiers check in exchange for a hold harmless agreement. Basically go away and shut up money. If he's smart he'll give it to you. It doesn't matter if you actually fix it or not, he needs to make you whole for the value that you are deficient after his work was performed. You also do not have to use "his guy" for any of the repairs.

 

I wouldn't blame that on not using a plotter. A good freehand installer may never touch a blade on open glass, but instead use a grease pencil to template a pattern, often better than what comes off the machine. Cookie cutter isn't always great. I do both regularly.

 

What we're looking at here is just plain poor attention to detail. I hate it for what it does to the industry.

Seems a bit harsh, but so are my choices to bring the car back to the state it was before the work was done. 

 

I came here to see if I was being to picky or if the installer was inept. Still not sure what to do...

 

If I have another shop replace the windows and sunroof, and prey to god they dont cause other damages, and they dont leak afterwards. I'd still need to find another huper optic shop locally and hope they dont screw it up as well. 

 

I'm terrified to let anyone work on it even more now than I was before this happened. Up till now I had done everything myself.

 

Here are some stats on this car....and an image of how it looked when It first arrived.

These were imported to the US from Australia and rebadged as a Chevy. This variant was only produced for 4 years for a total production of roughly 12,500 for the US. Probably a lot less around after 6 years. My color was only offered for 2 years, only 294 in 2016(my year) and 460 in 2017. Of those only about 10% were manual transmissions. Mine is number 38 of 69 with my specs...

 

My options were slip stream blue, sunroof, full size spare and 6 speed manual trans. My car has less than 17,400 miles as of this posting

 

I'm so unhappy...

Edited July 1, 2022 by Disappointed customer
Spelling and grammar

[Dano]

Guys like me would put their nose on the mat and make em tap out. I get irritated that jackwagons keep putting out work like this with a straight face. The owner maybe has no idea what kind of work is going out until he gets a complaint.

This industry gets a bad rep because of this type of clownery from the installers who know they have damaged something and won't alert the customer or the shop owners. 

 

You don't have to do anything at all and a lot of customers wouldn't and don't. The shop might do the right thing right away. Fire the installer and apologize, which is what I would hope for first. If not I would head straight for the mat. 

 

As a side note, Huper makes a nice product but so do many other brands as well. That's a pretty cool sled btw. 

[Disappointed customer]

Ok, appreciate all the comments. Here is an update. Saturday I took the car back for damage inspection. The owner was the original installer in this case. He acknowledged the scratch in the rear window, quarter glass, and sunroof. He polished the scratches out of the A pillar but one and you have to get the right angle to see that one. 

 

Heres the scary part... the owner sold the business and is no longer the owner as of Saturday. He has given me his personal cell number and will cover the glass repair. He is going to speak with the glass shop owner to see if they can polish the sunroof, and repair the frits on the rear glass. I have the replacement quarter glass ready to be replaced. I prefer fixing the rear window and sunroof glass than replacing. The quarter glass is too damaged and has to be replaced but it's in an easier spot to fix than the other 2. 

No one but me will touch this car again till I get my aftermarket hood and rear spoiler. Once I have these I am going to fix all the rock chips, and scratches, paint the roof black and door handles blue. Then paint correction and PPF. 

 

I'll update this after the glass repair but it may be a few weeks till that update drops depending on parts availability...

 

Sincere thanks

Edited July 3, 2022 by Disappointed customer
Corrections

[Disappointed customer]

If anyone is interested...

Today I had a scheduled appointment with the window tint installers glass repair shop. It's a separate company and location. The gentleman looked at the scratch in the sun roof and rear window and verified he could not polish the scratches out of tempered glass without leaving a distortion. He was also hesitant to replace the quarter glass, he preferred it be tinted before he installed it to ensure it didnt get damaged again given the circumstances.

 

The tint shops previous owner,(sold the shop 2 weeks after I had my windows tinted) the one who is responsible for this mess, is sending the film for the sun roof and quarter glass to the new owners to install. He covered my out of pocket expense for the quarter glass and the rear roof spoiler he damaged. So the only damage I'll be forced to live with is the rear window scratches... I keep trying to tell myself they are minor...

 

The new owners of the tint shop are great. and have been very helpful. They explained that they trace around with a wax pen and cut on a glass table instead of your car. 

 

Having to take time off work to see the work gets done without anymore damage and the extra milage added to my low mileage SS sedan has been a pain. I'm ready to be done so I can put the car back in tha garage where it is safe...