These glass guys aren’t exactly bright people, but they do good work.
August 4, 2008, 8:13 PM
First of all, let me preface this Journal entry by saying that the Sable is going through some rough times right now. Not long after I had to drop a new compressor into the car to get it moving again, I have something else go wrong. Let me explain. I’m driving in the car, going to Reston where my friend Matthew Tilley lives, in order to pay him a visit. I’ve gotten off of I-66, and I’m going up Fairfax County Parkway. There’s a car in front of me. And a rock comes right out from under that car, and *smack* hits my windshield, leaving a nice chip in it. So okay. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a chip, but I’m still a little bit pissed about this, even though it’s something that’s totally covered under my insurance.
So after I finished over at Matthew’s house, I headed back to Silver Spring to my house and filed the claim with Progressive. You go on their Web site, and you have to tell Progressive where you got nicked, and how you got nicked. Okay. Next day, bright and early, I got a call from Progressive. Okay. We went over everything, but first they needed proof that the windshield work was done back in 2006. So they had to call Whitesell’s, who, like the truly awesome folks that they are, came through with an invoice. So once Progressive had that in hand, we were going well. I agreed to use their roving glass service to fix the car, since I’m not taking the Sable anywhere to get it fixed if they can come to me.
So then later, the glass guys call me to schedule an appointment. We go over all the information that they got from Progressive, including make, model, body style, color, state of registration, tag number, plus we went over the damage again. In other words, there is only one car that fits that description – mine. And then I confirmed with them – I don’t need to be there for this job, right? Correct. I don’t need to be there. We also confirmed that it doesn’t matter which way I’ve got the car pointed, because they can get at it whether I’m parked forwards or backwards.
A few days later, I got another phone call from the glass guys to confirm. So far, so good. We went over everything again. Good deal.
And this brings us to today. Around 2:00, I got a call from the glass guys. The glass guys are at my complex and are a bit lost. They climbed all the steps to my front door and rang my bell. No response. They also can’t find my car. These guys are like, ummm, what now?. Not their most shining moment, for sure. So I set everyone straight. I explained to the dispatcher that I was at work, and that I didn’t have to be there for the job to be done, and so I wasn’t there. After all, I take public transportation to work. The car stays home most weekdays. And then I ended up having to guide the glass guys to my car. Turns out that they probably drove right past it. I was parked right next to the entrance to the complex, because that’s the only spot left after I came back from Shoppers last night. And that’s a really prominent spot. So I had to give the dispatcher my car’s whole description once again, the dispatcher radioed all of that to the field people, and finally the glass guys in the field found it. Ai yi yi…
Then when I got home, I found a bunch of paperwork under my windshield wiper. Good deal. That indicated to me that they came in and fixed it. Works for me. And they did a good job, too, as my windshield was once again as smooth as a baby’s butt. Possibly smoother. And I looked at the paperwork. That confirmed to me that the people they sent to do the repair were not exactly the brightest bulbs in the box. What’s this? Why, it’s the vehicle make, model, body style, color, tag number, and the VIN. Printed on the paperwork, no less. So unless they had a dot matrix printer in their field vehicle, that came from their office. So they had all the information right there already. And as people who do auto glass for a living, I’d hope they’d know what different cars look like. And the parking lot in my complex is pretty small, and during the day, it empties out, as many people drive to work. And besides that, there are only maybe three station wagons total in my complex, and mine’s the only Ford station wagon. And they need my help to find it. What would they do if the car was in a big parking garage, like the South Garage at the Vienna Metro station or something, where hundreds of cars park on multiple levels? I think their heads would explode.
But at least the work is done. And they did an excellent job. These guys certainly know how to repair windshield glass. Looks good as new. But my goodness, these people are oblivious to their surroundings, and to directions given, like that I would not be present for the work. Geeeeeez…
Web site: About repairing a windshield
Song: So since I mentioned it, I had a great time with Matthew and his mother, despite my damaged windshield. Mrs. Tilley is a wonderful chef, and made a wonderful meal for all of us, including perhaps the best potato salad I've ever had. Oh, let me tell you, that stuff was gooooooooood. So we had fun.
Quote: And I also never told you about how the earlier repairs went. The people at Lindsay are not exactly people whom I'd trust, but after they managed to really screw things up, I ended up having to calmly, politely, and professionally beat them to within an inch of their life, and got several hundred bucks off the repair job for it. They must have felt badly about it, because when I retrieved the Sable, they had completely cleaned the inside of the car, leaving it smelling all nice and clean, and washed and waxed the outside of the car. Let's just say that the Sable looked sharp when that was done. Sensible car or not, I'm sure a few people's heads were turning, as they had probably never before seen such a clean car.
Categories: Mercury Sable