Safelite Auto Glass bait and switch ripoff the business that doesnt give a dam Dallas Internet

Just an update about Safelite for new hires sales

You will be paid on time.  It is an hourly job.  Forget the commission.  They find so many ways not to pay it that you don't have enough fingers to count.  Retention for example.  You must totally trust that 78% of your customers show up or don't cancel or -0- commission.  55% cash rate HAHA....  most of the people calling in are desperate for a price to see if they can afford it or if you have the lowest price.  If you quote it per their "create an opportunity" system and they don't schedule...it goes against you.  If you are early 20 days in a row but 2 minutes late one day you will get written up for being tardy.  This is done so when they terminate you they can show unemployment you were warned and they won't have to pay un-employment.  Commission stats....  only about 10-15% of the people there ever earn it.   Much of that is luck.  Don't fool yourself.  Its an hourly job and they have massaged their numbers to pay you less. Their goal is to keep their pay roll down and make you feel like you a special by giving you Chik Filet every Tuesday quarterly.

You get paid by the phone clock in not computer.  So if you're computer boots late or bad, you are late and will receive the tardy slip.  Doesn't matter if you are at your work station working.  You are not on the phone.This is about the class action law suit you can Google on the web.  Just google class action lawsuit SAFELITE.

Safelite will pay you on time.  Safelite has more ways to fire you then Carter has pills and they will tell you all about them after the first month.  Their mantra is "you can get fired for this, get fired for that."  Their just pink slipping their butt for unemployment and suits.  They will talk to you OFF THE CLOCK (not a good idea).

Its a hourly job.  So don't sweat it.  Their ideal candidate is a retired part timer, a 600 pound part timer, a housewife, a second in come person.  It is not a career baby.  You can do just as well at Wal-Mart, Target, or Kroger with less stress.

Haven't been on here in awhile, but I saw this response from this rebuttal:

Steve - Walker, LA, Louisiana
U.S.A.

You stated that I went with the lowest priced company and a national one at that. You obviously didn't read carefully because I specifically stated that I DID NOT go with them in the end and went with a small business owner. It seems that you wanted to pontificate and during said pontification you completely ignored what my whole long written report was all about. Next time, read the ENTIRE ARTICLE FIRST, comprehend it properly, then respond.

To those who say Safelite is local, they are wrong. When a person refers to a business as local, they aren't talking typically about their physical location. They are usually meaning that a local business is one that is started up and run by locals and not part of a national, or multinational corporation.


Let me state again, in the end game, I went with a small business owner, not Safelite, and got everything I asked for a better price than bait and switch Safelite.

Hunter - Denton, TX

I was so pleased to see the comments from ex-employees about the bad practices at safelite.
I agree that these certainly DO have a direct bearing on the service rec eived by safelite customers.

If you have ever had to read through mounds of "verbiage" - meaningless and self-defeating "scripts" then you will perhaps understand why safelite call-centre employees make mistakes.

It is really hard to concentrate on the important details when you are having to make sure that you fit in all of the so-false and totally meaningless garbage which safelite expects its slave-workers to spew out on every call - even if they are not relevant - just try selling expensive wiper blades to customers who are already upset!

I am sorry to have to blag off safelite like this but their call centre people are treated with the same respect given to intensive farming chickens -so maybe that's a reason for so many errors and mistakes.

Please don't expect employees like "scott" (whom I suspect is a stooge) to give an honest answer - safelite would be quick to reward them in the same way that it frequently rewards its hard-working call centre workers - with an "early demise" to their career....

Safelite needs to be exposed for what it is
- an abusive employer !!!!

the srory refers to nags info being used. nags calls for a windshield # FW0640ZBN being the least expensive at $188.05 the labor hrs. at 4.3 and requireing new clips for the moldings @$7.61 and a note that it may require a new moulding. the car owner should have been told a molding might be needed. the installer should have had everything needed for the job on his truck. it looks like they did not like the job.

I am now an ex-employee of Slavelite and Faith it the nail on the head about how someone becomes a mananger and there ability to lead. Thank goodness someone figured out how they are leading the company into the dumps and fired bunch of them!!
Slavelite is the biggest which doesn't necessary mean much. Think of it this way your getting a critical part of your vehicle replaced by a company that has agreements to accept what the insurance companies will pay. With the newer vehicles if the windshield isn't installed properly and pops out in a crash it can cause problems with the airbags-no windshield to stop them the airbags. Also the windshield is part of structure that holds up the roof in a rollover! Now do you want the cheapest price? You may want to check and see how long the installer coming out has been with Safelite, he might be the manager cause the installer caller off?

First, let me say that I am an Installer for Safelite and have been in the Auto Glass business for over 13 years. You must realize that when you talk to a customer service rep to set up an appointment, they are going to quote you a price based on the materials that NAGS (National Auto Glass System) says that you need. If the system does not say that a molding is required, you will not be given a quote with a molding. When the installer arrives at the job, he will asses the job and let you know if anything else is required. Also, SOME vehicles that NAGS shows require moldings may in fact not require them (sometimes the old one can be re-used). Since your main concern seemed to be price, it appears that the rep was trying to accomodate you. Also, as far as Safelite not being "local", relize that we are. My kids go to school with your kids, and I pay the same taxes as you do. Safelite is the largest Auto Glass replacement company in the US and we employ the most Technicians. We also have very stringent policies as far as our installation techniques and the material that we use. You also get a LIFETIME warranty against defects in material and workmanship that is good no matter where in the country you are. No oter "local" company can give you that. Yes we have a corporate office in Ohio, bet the people who do the job are your neibors. It appears from your letter that Safelite tried to accomodate you with the price and scheduling. I realize that you did hit a snag, and this is not uncommon when dealing with any company, especially with the volume that we deal with, and that volume comes from having satisfied customers.

I am an ex-employee of Safelite and the turn over rate for employees is VERY VERY high. The managers they have running the corporate office are not really qualified to manage a team of sled dogs in Florida, let alone a group of people(my personal opinion). When I left there at the end of 2003 because I was being treated unfairly during a pregnancy, the management team was out of control. They were not using the policies the company had in place to make the busines actually run smoothly. It was basically a "who you knew" kind of emvironment, where only the ones that were in the "up and up" clicks were being treated and trained fairly.
They have always had a problem with training and turn over because of the way the company has changed mangerial hands in the past 2 years. It's no wonder anyone would have a problem calling into the call centers for service. I used to bill out invoices and had problems with the call center people on a daily basis.
And just to add some icing to the cake, they have recently went through and slashed a lot of jobs...from managers and sups to the regular peeps as well. I guess they may be FINALLY starting to realize that the people in charge of this company are running it into the ground, on the side of the employees and the consumer.
Hopefully this will all bring a change and this company will start to do better. BUT...I can tell you some interresting things that they have done to appease consumers with problems, since I no longer work for the company....just let me know, and I'll share the info

Thanks Steve for pointing out the obvious truth. I have been telling everyone in these threads to use the Mom/Pop repair shops(not just because I am one) and stop wasting time and money on big faceless corporations. The counterman at the big companies is usually nothing but a salesman who has memorized the company line and has no clue when the customer asks questions he/she is not trained to answer. If anyone has an issue with a vehicle my shop(s) have repaired, they all know who and where I am. My family depends on me to support them. I depend on my customers to support me. My customers depend on me FIXING their cars/trucks. It's a small circle. Safelite does do good work. The problem comes in when they give the customer a price and then "surprise" the windshield is out and now the installer "discovers" you need more stuff. Most repair shops work this way too. I do NOT. When I call someone for glass installs(it's more cost effective for me to have them do it at my shop) I always ask for the worst case scenario price. It ALWAYS comes in near that price. I only wish more people would think this way when they get work done. I charge $24.99 for an oil change. The shop down the street charges $8.88 and rotates the tires for FREE. How many people really think the place is doing what they advertise? Unfortunately, alot do. I had a lady come in today and said she'd never trust someone like that to touch her van. She knew it was a scam. Wake up America. You don't work for FREE. Stop expecting everyone else to.

Thanks Steve for pointing out the obvious truth. I have been telling everyone in these threads to use the Mom/Pop repair shops(not just because I am one) and stop wasting time and money on big faceless corporations. The counterman at the big companies is usually nothing but a salesman who has memorized the company line and has no clue when the customer asks questions he/she is not trained to answer. If anyone has an issue with a vehicle my shop(s) have repaired, they all know who and where I am. My family depends on me to support them. I depend on my customers to support me. My customers depend on me FIXING their cars/trucks. It's a small circle. Safelite does do good work. The problem comes in when they give the customer a price and then "surprise" the windshield is out and now the installer "discovers" you need more stuff. Most repair shops work this way too. I do NOT. When I call someone for glass installs(it's more cost effective for me to have them do it at my shop) I always ask for the worst case scenario price. It ALWAYS comes in near that price. I only wish more people would think this way when they get work done. I charge $24.99 for an oil change. The shop down the street charges $8.88 and rotates the tires for FREE. How many people really think the place is doing what they advertise? Unfortunately, alot do. I had a lady come in today and said she'd never trust someone like that to touch her van. She knew it was a scam. Wake up America. You don't work for FREE. Stop expecting everyone else to.

Thanks Steve for pointing out the obvious truth. I have been telling everyone in these threads to use the Mom/Pop repair shops(not just because I am one) and stop wasting time and money on big faceless corporations. The counterman at the big companies is usually nothing but a salesman who has memorized the company line and has no clue when the customer asks questions he/she is not trained to answer. If anyone has an issue with a vehicle my shop(s) have repaired, they all know who and where I am. My family depends on me to support them. I depend on my customers to support me. My customers depend on me FIXING their cars/trucks. It's a small circle. Safelite does do good work. The problem comes in when they give the customer a price and then "surprise" the windshield is out and now the installer "discovers" you need more stuff. Most repair shops work this way too. I do NOT. When I call someone for glass installs(it's more cost effective for me to have them do it at my shop) I always ask for the worst case scenario price. It ALWAYS comes in near that price. I only wish more people would think this way when they get work done. I charge $24.99 for an oil change. The shop down the street charges $8.88 and rotates the tires for FREE. How many people really think the place is doing what they advertise? Unfortunately, alot do. I had a lady come in today and said she'd never trust someone like that to touch her van. She knew it was a scam. Wake up America. You don't work for FREE. Stop expecting everyone else to.

Hunter, I hope this has helped you to understand how going with the cheapest price sometimes costs you more in the long run.
Had you paid a few more bucks and stuck with a "Mom and Pop" glass company in your area instead of falling for the cheap price from a national company, you would have:
1. Been assured of the best quality workmanship
2. Been assured that the price you received is the price you pay- the original price you got probably included all mouldings, sealants, labor, etc.
3. Would not have to "go up the corporate ladder" to complain if you have a problem - the man at the top would be right at the shop you took your car to.
4. Would not have to be subjected to "bait and switch" tactics
5. Had the money you paid for your work stay in your community, and not spirited away to some big company in another state. Why not support your local businesses? The few extra bucks you pay is more than worth the cost, in the many many benefits you receive.


Since you decided to use a national company based on price, you are going to have to accept the fact that you have gotten what you paid for: Cheap price equals cheap quality, on all levels of the transaction.

I hope that the next time you need a windshield, you will take note of this, and choose a local installer who has spent years building up his reputation, and has no "turnover" because HE IS the installer.

Think Scott forgot to mention about the 80% plus turnover of employees due to bad management practices.

The first call sounds legit about employee lowering price to meet competition. Now about the molding sometimes shop doing the work is trying to "supersize" the order with the molding most of the times if the molding is part of the windshield the first employee should have mentioned about molding. Another excuse might about molding might be shop is overbook for that day and used the molding as excuse to delete the order which happens most of the times.

About the callback problem sound believable due to lack of employee retention how no one scheduled anything, happens a lot.

Safelite is a national company that is routing all phone calls through corporate office in Columbus, Ohio. The poor employee do one call after another and have to stick to a scripted response(naturally there monitored twice weekly at least) so after a few calls its all a blur!

First of all, it seems that I live in the same area as the COMPLAINER. Fortuantly, I can say that I have been dealing with Safelite with every vehicle that I have owned in my life. I do not know anyone who works for Safelite, or I have no connection to the company that will render my opinion of this fine establishment. I do know, being that I am in the same area, that we delt with the very same LOCAL shop.

Being that it was stated in the last insulting letter that you wrote, "if you deal with a local shop" Safelite is Local.....they are local all over the united states. I can understand if you don't want work done right the first time. Don't get me wrong, but when LOCAL "mom and pop" shops do glass replacements, they learned to install glass just by watching someone else. Not by going to SCHOOL and learning how to do it right the first time. I will guarantee that the fight that you are having with this broken windsheild is not over.

If you think that you are the only one in the city, much less the state, who has ever had a glass broken, and went the same route you did, you should know by now that you made a big mistake. SAFELITE IS LOCAL. They are local all over the United States. I just read what you are writing as you wanted to get something for nothing. Things cost money.

I am also reading what was written to you, that Safelite did nothing short of trying to help you out. Lowering the price? Setting the appointment up when and where you wanted it? Driving a Lexus....what is a measly $40 molding (that was discounted by half) to you. I think you were trying to rip them off! Not the other way around. Safelite is the best glass company in the country. Be proud they are willing to help YOU out. I think Safelite is a great company and they can have my business and anyone else I know for as long as I need them! THANK YOU SAFELITE!!

Thanks so much Scott for such a well scripted response. I must say, it sounds as though you copied and pasted that directly from one of your customer correspondence letters and pasted it right to the web page. Again, brilliant.

Here's the thing you've failed to realize. First off, I'm not an Auto Glass Professional, so I don't know that moulding, which you admitted is required for installing auto glass, is not part of doing the work. You see Scott, typically in America when people contract someone to do something, they take for granted that they know what they are talking about, what's involved and whatnot. If I knew that moulding is not included in the price of replacing the auto glass, I don't think I would go to the trouble of mentioning it in my rip off report or make a stink about it with the rep on the phone.

Second, bait and switching is exactly what it was. They stated a price, I stated another and for the purposes of getting my business they matched it to DRAW me in, or bait if you will. Then they change the price on me by saying that the moulding is going to be extra, when previously that had not been mentioned before. The only thing mentioned was how much, the total price, and the understanding that would be for everything. Then of course they change things up again by denying that the appointment was set back on. I liken your explanation to a man who orders fries at a burger stand and then they tell him he'll have to pay extra for the oil in which to fry them in when they respond, "We are in the business of selling fries, not cooking oil." Again, your response, while eloquently worded, was crap and doesn't hold water.

Finally, you exhort how they went out of their way to cover half the cost of the moulding and knock the price down of the glass to keep my business and I agrue with you not there. However, when you go on to say that they did everything they could, then explain to me why that at the end of that phone call when I said it the deal back on, same date, time and whatnot that they had notes earlier, they replied yes, but only to call back later and find out it was still cancelled and that nothing price wise was going to apply? You've yet to address that issue!

I'm sure you are a good employee, as evidenced by your response, and you love the company. However, first impressions are often critical in the business world. In this day and age of sorry customer service, all it takes is one bad experience and you've lost a customer. That's what happened here, but the thing is all along things were changing with each person I spoke with. Therefore, your theory that I got someone new would have held up, but not when calling in several different times would I get someone brand new. Impossible? No. Highly improbable, yes.

First off, I am an employee of Safelite Auto Glass. I have worked there for quite some time now, and have no problems working for them, they are a great company to work for. And the geat thing about this company is they are constantly expanding and creating new jobs for people in all the areas of the USA. With that in mind, there are many new employees that are walking through our doors every single day, which in reading this report, sound like hunter spoke with one of them. But that is really besides the point anyway.

The consumer says that we used bait and switch business to get him into buying our auto glass. We did nothing but beat other glass prices that were out there already. He told us that he received a price for X amount of dollars, and we beat that. We are a very competitive company, thats why we have been in business for 50 + years. As for the cost of mouldings, Safelite is a wholesaler for auto GLASS not auto MOULDINGS. We have no control over the cost of mouldings, all mouldings are original equipment and if we dont have them in our warehouses, we have to order them, and pay full price just like everyone else. Also, the mouldings are a necessary thing, they prevent wind, water, and any kind of leaking, and 40.00 for a moulding considering most mouldings are double that. It sounds like hunter simply got someone on the phone that was new, and just forgot to tell him about the moulding. Being someone who coached new employees about things that they have to work on, I know that who ever this person was, has been coached and the correct action was taken against them. As for saying "is this back on..." We are told time and time again, we cannot schedule without an address, getting the address is the same as getting permission from the customer to do the work.

Also as you can see, we offered to absorb 1/2 the price of the moulding, and discounted the glass even more, therefore the customer was paying the same price as he was before. I dont see how that is bad customer service, we discounted glass, mouldings to make our customer happy, it may have taken a few phone calls, but the problem was taken care of.

Here at safelite, we pride ourselves on our customer satifaction rate, which is an awesome 98.5%. We have over 700 shops over the United States, so having a rate that is that high over that big of an area is fantastic.

Employee
Columbus, Ohio

First off, I am an employee of Safelite Auto Glass. I have worked there for quite some time now, and have no problems working for them, they are a great company to work for. And the geat thing about this company is they are constantly expanding and creating new jobs for people in all the areas of the USA. With that in mind, there are many new employees that are walking through our doors every single day, which in reading this report, sound like hunter spoke with one of them. But that is really besides the point anyway.

The consumer says that we used bait and switch business to get him into buying our auto glass. We did nothing but beat other glass prices that were out there already. He told us that he received a price for X amount of dollars, and we beat that. We are a very competitive company, thats why we have been in business for 50 + years. As for the cost of mouldings, Safelite is a wholesaler for auto GLASS not auto MOULDINGS. We have no control over the cost of mouldings, all mouldings are original equipment and if we dont have them in our warehouses, we have to order them, and pay full price just like everyone else. Also, the mouldings are a necessary thing, they prevent wind, water, and any kind of leaking, and 40.00 for a moulding considering most mouldings are double that. It sounds like hunter simply got someone on the phone that was new, and just forgot to tell him about the moulding. Being someone who coached new employees about things that they have to work on, I know that who ever this person was, has been coached and the correct action was taken against them. As for saying "is this back on..." We are told time and time again, we cannot schedule without an address, getting the address is the same as getting permission from the customer to do the work.

Also as you can see, we offered to absorb 1/2 the price of the moulding, and discounted the glass even more, therefore the customer was paying the same price as he was before. I dont see how that is bad customer service, we discounted glass, mouldings to make our customer happy, it may have taken a few phone calls, but the problem was taken care of.

Here at safelite, we pride ourselves on our customer satifaction rate, which is an awesome 98.5%. We have over 700 shops over the United States, so having a rate that is that high over that big of an area is fantastic.

Employee
Columbus, Ohio

First off, I am an employee of Safelite Auto Glass. I have worked there for quite some time now, and have no problems working for them, they are a great company to work for. And the geat thing about this company is they are constantly expanding and creating new jobs for people in all the areas of the USA. With that in mind, there are many new employees that are walking through our doors every single day, which in reading this report, sound like hunter spoke with one of them. But that is really besides the point anyway.

The consumer says that we used bait and switch business to get him into buying our auto glass. We did nothing but beat other glass prices that were out there already. He told us that he received a price for X amount of dollars, and we beat that. We are a very competitive company, thats why we have been in business for 50 + years. As for the cost of mouldings, Safelite is a wholesaler for auto GLASS not auto MOULDINGS. We have no control over the cost of mouldings, all mouldings are original equipment and if we dont have them in our warehouses, we have to order them, and pay full price just like everyone else. Also, the mouldings are a necessary thing, they prevent wind, water, and any kind of leaking, and 40.00 for a moulding considering most mouldings are double that. It sounds like hunter simply got someone on the phone that was new, and just forgot to tell him about the moulding. Being someone who coached new employees about things that they have to work on, I know that who ever this person was, has been coached and the correct action was taken against them. As for saying "is this back on..." We are told time and time again, we cannot schedule without an address, getting the address is the same as getting permission from the customer to do the work.

Also as you can see, we offered to absorb 1/2 the price of the moulding, and discounted the glass even more, therefore the customer was paying the same price as he was before. I dont see how that is bad customer service, we discounted glass, mouldings to make our customer happy, it may have taken a few phone calls, but the problem was taken care of.

Here at safelite, we pride ourselves on our customer satifaction rate, which is an awesome 98.5%. We have over 700 shops over the United States, so having a rate that is that high over that big of an area is fantastic.

Employee
Columbus, Ohio

First off, I am an employee of Safelite Auto Glass. I have worked there for quite some time now, and have no problems working for them, they are a great company to work for. And the geat thing about this company is they are constantly expanding and creating new jobs for people in all the areas of the USA. With that in mind, there are many new employees that are walking through our doors every single day, which in reading this report, sound like hunter spoke with one of them. But that is really besides the point anyway.

The consumer says that we used bait and switch business to get him into buying our auto glass. We did nothing but beat other glass prices that were out there already. He told us that he received a price for X amount of dollars, and we beat that. We are a very competitive company, thats why we have been in business for 50 + years. As for the cost of mouldings, Safelite is a wholesaler for auto GLASS not auto MOULDINGS. We have no control over the cost of mouldings, all mouldings are original equipment and if we dont have them in our warehouses, we have to order them, and pay full price just like everyone else. Also, the mouldings are a necessary thing, they prevent wind, water, and any kind of leaking, and 40.00 for a moulding considering most mouldings are double that. It sounds like hunter simply got someone on the phone that was new, and just forgot to tell him about the moulding. Being someone who coached new employees about things that they have to work on, I know that who ever this person was, has been coached and the correct action was taken against them. As for saying "is this back on..." We are told time and time again, we cannot schedule without an address, getting the address is the same as getting permission from the customer to do the work.

Also as you can see, we offered to absorb 1/2 the price of the moulding, and discounted the glass even more, therefore the customer was paying the same price as he was before. I dont see how that is bad customer service, we discounted glass, mouldings to make our customer happy, it may have taken a few phone calls, but the problem was taken care of.

Here at safelite, we pride ourselves on our customer satifaction rate, which is an awesome 98.5%. We have over 700 shops over the United States, so having a rate that is that high over that big of an area is fantastic.

Employee
Columbus, Ohio