Auto Glass Steering – Bullying is Real

You have the right to choose who works on your car!

Every day we hear about it. The 3rd party administrator bully. All you want to do is make an auto glass claim. Should be easy right? Shouldn’t be too much work? Auto glass is a pretty easy thing to take care of. . . . well, it used to be. Unfortunately it has become tougher and tougher to choose your auto glass company of choice. Why? Easy answer; the third party administrator has a lot of tricks to make you change your mind from using approved shops on their network. Think I’m making it up? Call any independent glass shop that is in network and ask them. They will tell you similar stories.

In network means that our glass shop signs a contract with the third party administrator agreeing to the pricing set by the insurance companies. Our company does not set the pricing for your auto glass. THEY DO. The agreement states that we accept the pricing set and that we are an above board company so you are protected by our company AND your insurance company for a job well done. Make sense?

So, why are they “steering” you away from our shop if I’m in network? That is the million dollar question. In Arizona, it’s against the law to “steer” you away from your shop of choice. The third party administrator’s job is to make the claim and get you to an auto glass company for scheduling. The thing is, some 3rd party administrators have an affiliation with a glass shop. So, they may want you to use said shop instead of another. Hence comes the fun grey area of steering, manipulation, out right rude behavior and an awful experience.

While on the phone with a customer, the third party administrator asked to talk privately with my customer It’s good times. There are other stories but I won’t bore you. The best is when a customer calls the third party administrator without calling the shop first. If you do this, they will do everything they can to get you to switch shops. We loose many customers this way to that shop until the customer realizes what has happened. It gets messy.

If I called to make a claim with my insurance company, I would not realize I was talking to a third party administrator. I would think I’m talking to my insurance company. If that person on the other end of the phone said, “Use THIS shop” what would you do? Unless you have used us before, you may fall for it. I would have. They are CRAZY convincing. And the sad thing is THEY RECOMMEND US…..and STAND BY OUR WORK. It’s a quandary I tell you.

So what do you do? Educate yourself on the shops. Find out about who you want cutting into your car. Find out about the workmanship, the warranty and the work the installers do. Ask the shop to help you make the claim. Stand firm when other “suggestions” may come about. You are the boss of who touches your car. You wouldn’t let just anyone fix your engine would you? Your glass is like that. You have the right to be picky when it comes to your baby sitting in your driveway or in your garage.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Lots of scams out there. Be safe, rock on and remember; it’s glass. It’s yours and you have the right to choose.

Please know your installer. Don’t let this happen to you.