View From The Trenches

This has been a very interesting and challenging year for my business. First of all, I live in California. That means if you are not an actor or somebody’s gardener, you are most likely trying your hand as an auto glass installer. I didn’t realize that my chosen craft was such an economic stepping stone for so many—so many, in fact, that I believe Californians should start considering re-paving some of our crumbling roads with these so-called “‘technicians.” If we did, my luck would have it that business would continue to slide because the smoother freeways that us Golden Staters would have to drive on would diminish demands on needing new windshields.

We are in the land of the automobile where Mercedes and BMW are icons of success. On any given day, you can find a veritable historical record of automotive engineering and design on this state’s highways. With no mechanical vehicle inspection laws on the books, you also can see some real junkyard refugees sputtering along at well under posted speed limits.

That diversity reflects the economic realities of this state. We have both some of the richest and poorest residents (notice the non-use of the word “citizens”) of our country. We are a gateway state that borders another nation and an ocean. That reality has had an effect upon our state’s economy and the state of our auto glass industry here as well.

Much of California’s population resides in zones of mild temperate weather. Many of us rarely ever see snow, much less heavy frost, unless we drive into the mountains in winter. We do have a rainy season that lasts less than four months out of the year. It is an ideal place for fleas to flourish along with year-round mobile installation services. It would seem a public service to see either species diminish in numbers.

Economists laud the fact that competition brings down prices, but it is my guess that that Adam Smith never read a “Pennysaver” or Milton Friedman ever surfed cyberspace to shop for windshields. If they had a windshield installed based on price, most likely they would have tried to compose a theory that involved an inverse relationship between quality and quantity.

It is the precipitous decline in professionalism that concerns me most. When I have to visit glass distributors to pick up “will-call” parts, it can be a real experience. Anyone who calls himself an auto glass installer can be found there. I’ve seen SUVs used as installation vehicles, and, in them, a windshield is laid flat on the rear seats with tools and a bucket inside the back door. The most common vehicle is an old mini-pickup that only has room for a glass rack and little else. It is a mystery how many of our so-called installers can actually install or deal with anomalies they find once they start a job. You have to think that for them urethane solves all moulding and clip situations.

One priceless scene that I have seen repeated time and time again occurs at one distributor. There, an elderly lady, who is a passenger in an old Astrovan, picks apart and rejects some of the Chinese parts they have ordered. It is a sight right out of a farmer’s market.

I realize looks aren’t everything. My white Chevy utility pickup usually needs a wash. Yet, from what I’ve seen when I come behind a previous installation, there are very, very few times, I can step back and admire someone’s handiwork.

The state government of California is mired in debt. They are cash strapped and paralyzed due to many political and social reasons. The effect is that many regulatory agencies cease to function or narrow their actions. That particularly goes for the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). Its agenda allegedly involves all types of auto repair; however, smog testing and its abuses form its main focus and effort. Regulating auto glass may occupy one percent of its efforts, if that. I surmise that the BAR would only get involved in some auto glass-related business or abuse if or when an insurance company would hand them a case to pursue. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of little concerns that install auto glass in this state that operate without a BAR permit.

Governments like to collect tax. I see so many cash sales that take place at distributors that I wonder how these operators deduct their expenses on their taxes. The assumption is that they don’t need to, because they are operating a paperless cash business. To me, it is just another sign of how many obstacles legitimate shops have to overcome in the face of “unfair” competition.

It is my contention that California is just a microcosm of our industry. We are simply hurting our overall reputation by not controlling who and what criteria constitutes a valid installation. The “easy entry” problem of inferior practitioners of our tradecraft is the single most serious problem our industry faces, along with the deteriorating quality of the product being produced for installation. If it is not addressed, we are literally handing over the high ground to a corporation that believes for good reason it can convince a number of Americans through advertising it is the most legitimate and professional choice for auto glass installation. Compare that to someone driving a mini-truck who carries only a tool bucket, it can be an easy case to make.

P.S. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the two mobile installers who work for Silicon Valley Auto Glass. I don’t know their names and they certainly did not know mine, but they professionally answered a few questions I had when stopping in at a dealership to pick up some OE mouldings for a car that I had not done before. I thought it was a very classy thing for them to do and their advice made the job go much more smoothly than it otherwise would have.  

There was a successful book published a few years ago by Robert Fulghum, titled “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” In it, the author lists several tenets that he learned at the most elementary level that formed the basis of his approach toward life. I did not read the book. I didn’t have to, because my mother was a kindergarten teacher for more than 20 years and I was indoctrinated since birth with homespun maxims that had the same effect.

There are two rules that may have appeared in that book that many in this trade (much less the world) that, if followed and embraced on a daily basis, would vastly improve not only the quality of our work but also of our world. I can tell you with certainty as a child that I heard them daily (and needed to). Those two rules are:

 1) Put things back where and how you found them; and

2) Clean up your messes.

In any given week, I come across auto glass that has been replaced and, for the most part, it is becoming a stressful situation simply due to the fact that I wonder what sort of past injury has been inflicted on the vehicle and how can I properly respond to it.

I recently came across a 1998 Acura Integra (2-door) that needed a windshield (an FW 751). What should have been a simple 45- to 60-minute job became a toil due to the fact that the side mouldings were glued on because it lacked underside clips. The cowl was faster to remove because it only had three functioning expansion clips out of eight and it lacked all of the arrowhead fasteners that are by the engine compartment. Somebody lacked the basic knowledge of moulding and cowl removal and certainly came to this job completely unprepared or, worse yet, unprofessionally negligent by not having proper replacement parts. Why? How can anyone call themselves a professional and act in such an amateur fashion? How many times a week do we come across such abominations? More than we care to, I surmise.

I get the opportunity to replace literally hundreds of Acura windshields in a year. Acura engineers place a sound-deadening piece of foam along the bottom of many older model MDX windshields. I have never ever seen a replacement windshield in those models that an installer either replaced or reused that foam strip or even tried to substitute something else. Why? Is it laziness or greed or both?

What is happening to this country and to its values? Have we sacrificed our integrity for the almighty dollar? Are we so enamored with making money or saving time that we are forgetting about doing our jobs properly?

One of the great attributes of American worker is our ability to be ingenious. Historically we have taken a problem and solved it. Most of the time, our inventiveness has given this country the ability to leapfrog the competition. That “Yankee Ingenuity” in saving time or materials can be a huge asset, but lately it seems all we are doing is cutting corners at the expense of quality—a route certain to lead to overall failure.

Look at the catastrophic disasters in the mining and oil business that have taken place just in this year—these were caused by companies trying to save money. Lives were lost and in the case of the offshore oil well in the Gulf, billions of dollars will be spent in trying to clean up a mess that will impact lives, industries and nature. Both of these industries would be far better served if they followed the two aforementioned rules of kindergarten. Also, the mining and drilling accidents were proof of how much the regulatory process is being compromised by insidious political influence applied by corporate interests.

We in the auto glass industry are not acting much better. Overall product quality has dropped precipitously along with the effort to install the glass properly. Just view our own AGRR Message Forum and read the complaints concerning aftermarket glass. On the negative side, one can also be advised on what generic moulding best will be substituted for an OE one. There is a constant effort to cut corners at the expense of our customers’ cars and that attitude is having a deleterious effect on the reputation of our craft.

Insurers promise to return their clients’ vehicles to “pre-loss condition,” yet hire third-party glass administrators who have a large aftermarket glass production presence. Independent glass shops who participate in those programs are offered low payment rates that discourage and most likely eliminate OE glass and moulding purchases. In the cash sector, I’m sad to say, it is indeed a “Buyer Beware” atmosphere. Anything goes and usually does. A shopper has no guarantee that he/she will be receiving any sort of value if he/she makes his/her choice based on price. 

If there is a genuine desire to raise the level of professionalism, it starts with us, the technicians, who are closest to the customer. We have to demand better parts. We have to come prepared for every job and most of all we have to be the advocate for our client. Try acting like we own the car and that our children’s lives are dependent upon our skills. We tell those same little ones to put their toys back how they found them. We need to do the same. Our industry and our world would be in far better condition if the adults observed the same rules we hold our children to. At least, I hope we do.