Windscreen cover that doesn’t cover your windscreen!
We’ve all been there, wake up in the morning and notice that your twat of a neighbour has launched a lighter into your windscreen and cracked it, well maybe not all of you but I’m sure any drivers out there have experienced the nightmare that is a cracked windscreen. I first noticed this crack on a cold morning before setting off for work, it was at the top and kind of hidden behind the rain sensor and tinted section of the screen. At first I assumed it was just a flying stone but the debris of a lighter was also found within the immediate area. However I didn’t think much about it as I had windscreen cover with my car insurance and made the call when I arrived home that evening.
The call was fairly straight forward, they took my details and advised me someone would call back to arrange the replacement. A few minutes later Autoglass called and asked about the car and the damage then told me that he would arrive the following day. Just as we were sorting out the finer details he told me it would cost £75 for a repair and £150 for a replacement, apparently my rather expensive windscreen cover carried a high excess! I told him not to bother calling out until I had spoken to my insurance company (Admiral via Bell). They then told me that the excess was required and I should have opted for the “free” windscreen cover at a cost of £70 a year (I’m already paying an extra £50). Completely unhappy with this and knowing my insurance was due for renewal a couple of weeks later I chanced driving with the ever increasing crack in my screen.
After 2 weeks of watching this crack get bigger I decided to bite the bullet and start getting quotes, my partner has a premier account with Lloyds TSB which offers a big discount if you buy from AA windscreens, however that quote came in at £600 with the discount. Thinking that I would be better off just paying the excess I made one more enquiry and found a local company (Auto Price Windscreens) who quoted me £140 for the screen and fitting. As this was cheaper than the excess I arranged a next day replacement at my workplace.
Now I work in Stoke, the head office is in Telford (where I live) however I drive a company car around the country as part of my job meaning I was not there to inspect the work once finished. I paid over the phone before he came out and collected the car once I had finished work. The invoice had some advice about when I could drive the car and the “no car wash for 4 days” warning and all appeared good. The following day the company car wasn’t available so I drove my car to Norfolk to do a job and on the way home the windscreen lifted and the rubber flew off. After making a dive into the hard shoulder I retrieved the trim pieces and called them.
I was quite angry at the situation as I was stuck in Milton Keynes on the side of a motorway wondering if I could drive home. The MD then called me and once I had told him the problem I was safe to drive home (slowly) and he would send someone out to me as soon as he could. I got home and just started making a cup of coffee when a van pulled up and the fitter knocked my door, amazed that they knew I was home I showed the chap the problem and he set about fixing it. Problem sorted or so I thought…
Today I decided to go to the garden centre to make use of the week off I have and went over a pothole and a big part of my rain sensor/alarm thingy/rear view mirror fell off and was left hanging on by a couple of brightly coloured wires. Once again I called them and they advised me that someone would call out within the hour. Just as the friendly lady had said a chirpy chappy came out and fixed the mirror thingy, cleaned up the roof lining, polished the windscreen inside and out and even had a crack at polishing my dashboard.
One happy customer later I finish off my gardening and think about telling the world about a company who stand by their work and who came out to me to put right any problems I had. Do I think they should have done the job correctly the first time? Yes of course, however they haven’t once given me the brush off and have fixed everything professionally, without question and best of all without charge. Would I use them again and recommend them? Yes 100% I doubt any of the major companies would have tried so hard and called out twice to put things right without charge.
So if you are in the Stafford/Shropshire area and need a windscreen then try Auto Price Windscreens by calling 0800 298 0469
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