Charged for side window glass broken by installer after rust repair

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rhy7s

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#277220 2-Oct-2020 09:27

Just wanted to check on this. When we had a windscreen replaced a while ago, the installer said they would charge for a new one if they broke it, which seems a bit strange, it seems like they have an incentive to not be careful and you would normally think businesses would either have their own insurance or build in a margin to their cost to cover their expected rate of breakage. Anyway, just now we've had rust repair around a side window and Smith&Smith broke the glass and have charged for the replacement (or rather charged the panel beaters who will pass it on to us), has anyone been around this topic before in regards to consumer protection? Is this just standard in the industry?

Yogi02

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#2577815 2-Oct-2020 09:35

You can remove a window without breaking it but it does take care and time and there is a chance of it breaking. Saying that, the sceptic in me can picture it being easier and quicker to take out without care and double dip with a glass repair.

xpd

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#2577818 2-Oct-2020 09:37

In certain cases if the glass was already damaged, then fair enough - but I'd be wanting evidence of the damage before being charged.

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rhy7s

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#2577822 2-Oct-2020 09:49

xpd:

In certain cases if the glass was already damaged, then fair enough - but I'd be wanting evidence of the damage before being charged.

The reason in neither of the cases mentioned in our situation was glass damage, it was being removed and replaced for rust work.

KrazyKid

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#2577853 2-Oct-2020 11:11

Surely it comes down to what you agreed to when you dropped the car off for repair.

Personally if you didn't agree to pay for replacement glass the person who broke it should pay to fix it.

Mitigating factors would include existing damage or faults.

However if liability was in a contract I signed and didn't read properly then all bets are off, I pay for the glass.

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#2578334 2-Oct-2020 21:36

This is normal practice. I don't know the reason. Safety glass builds up stress over time and becomes brittle maybe. Ask and they will tell you why.

Handle9

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#2578340 2-Oct-2020 22:01

If they have to remove the glass to do the repair then it's fair enough, providing they made you aware of the risk. If it is difficult for a competent contractor to remove the glass without breaking it then, providing it is disclosed, then you should pay. It's part of doing the job and not something caused by negligence.

If they broke it by being rough or negligent then they should pay. If they didn't tell you about the risks of breaking the glass they should pay.

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richms

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#2578371 2-Oct-2020 23:40

Its part of the risk of working on an old car. Plenty of times things get damaged during work and have to be replaced, why should the place doing the work wear the loss unless they were negligent in it happening. Whenever my mechanic has had something fail that was their fault they sorted it no questions or hassles, but if theyre working on something and something else breaks then not their fault.

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#2578429 3-Oct-2020 03:00

This is fair if you were forewarned - they'd simply have to quote every job to include the replacement of the windscreen otherwise and you'd have had to pay for it without even knowing. All they are doing is giving you the best possible price -- if the glass didn't break, great, you win and the cost is cheaper for the job

Wheelbarrow01

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#2578732 3-Oct-2020 21:50

Just to be clear, if the glass in question was bonded to the car (aka glued in using adhesive), it is almost impossible to remove without breaking it, even by the experts. Automotive glass installed in this manner provides additional structural integrity to the vehicle. Glass held in by rubber gaskets such as in older cars does not have the same removal issues, but it also provides no structural benefits either.

If the car in question was manufactured in the '80's or later, any side windows that don't wind up or down along with the front and rear windscreens are likely to be bonded, and realistically the glass will almost always be sacrificed during the removal process. Nothing to do with skill really, just a characteristic of how modern cars are designed.

Having said that, it would have been nice if they had at least set that expectation with you so that you were aware upfront that the glass would be sacrificed during the rust repair process.

Bung

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#2578744 3-Oct-2020 23:25

There seem to be a surprising array of urethane bonded glass removal tools available for a job that is nearly always impossible.

I'd ask the panel beaters what their experience was with different glass companies.

richms

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#2578832 4-Oct-2020 09:56

Bung: There seem to be a surprising array of urethane bonded glass removal tools available for a job that is nearly always impossible.

I'd ask the panel beaters what their experience was with different glass companies.

Then you're paying labour on something that is still very failure prone, if the glass is replaceable at low cost then its not economical to remove safely as that can take forever and still has considerable risk.

Richard rich.ms

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Bung

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#2578933 4-Oct-2020 11:27

That can be understandable. I had some windscreen scratches that were annoying at night. The glass place said they could polish them out but it would take time and they suggested if I had glass cover a rock would fix it faster. I think as far as removal goes maybe they've just decided a centre punch is cheaper than a specialist urethane cutter.

robjg63

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#2579033 4-Oct-2020 13:55

Removing old glass would always have a high risk of breakage.
It sounds like the panel beater couldn't remove it - hence Smith & Smith being brought in.
I assume by that, it was bonded glass and that is almost fused to the car.
Very high odds of breaking.

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rhy7s

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#2579388 5-Oct-2020 08:59

Thanks for the discussion, as far as I know it was broken being put back in, but I hear that the whole process is stressful for the glass. Of the various panel beaters the rest of the family has dealt with for, they've all outsourced the glass removal and replacement step.

BlueShift

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#2579411 5-Oct-2020 09:19

I had the opposite on one of my old cars - went in for a (insurance paid) windscreen replacement and ended up paying for a bunch of rust removal as a chunk of the frame came out with the windscreen...