Chevy & GMC Vans

I am feeling rather angry at the moment. I have had a crack in my windshield for a while, and finally I had the money to get it fixed. So I took it to the only auto glass company in town figuring they would do a decent job. I mean, how difficult could it be to take out the old glass, put in new sealant and install the new glass. They even came and picked up the vehicle and brought it back all for $290 plus tax.

When I came home I noticed some duct tape on the top of the windshield over the trim. The auto glass place was closed so I phoned up the next day to see if I could remove it. He sounded surprised and said sure. So off came the duct tape. Later, that day we took the van out and as we drove down the highway I head some wind noise that I was not used to hearing, but my wife said it was from around the door not the windshield. As I was trying to determine where the noise was coming from I noticed big blobs of sealant along the inside edge of the windshield which I was not thrilled with, but hey I could live with it.

That was, until today. I am heading to Grantham PA this coming Monday, and I will be camping Friday to Sunday, so I was getting things ready on the van--oil, lube and filter, check over various thing, clean things up inside and out. This afternoon we were out, but I thought when we got back I would vacuum out the van so I could get things finished tomorrow or the next day. It was raining, and when I went in what did I find, but a puddle on the floor mat on the drivers side, and water dripping from the top of the front windshield along the headliner.

So, now I have a wet floor, wet seat, and I would guess the head liner is wet as well. Tomorrow I get to go complain and hope that this person stands behind his work. Maybe it was some new employee who did the job. If not, I am surprised that he is still in business. I guess tomorrow will tell, not that I have a whole lot of time for this as I was sort of hoping to spend some time with my wife and son doing something fun tomorrow like going to the Toronto Zoo, this may put a little hitch in the plans. Why can't people just do the job right the first time?

Complete suckage, hope they stand behind their work and cover your clean up.

ihatemybike wrote:Complete suckage, hope they stand behind their work and cover your clean up.

Agreed.

This is why many automotive shops are getting bad reps because of the few odd people who dont do quality work.

That sucks....I hope they will cover it.(not with duct tape).
Steph had a simmilar problem with her new glass install,She was tickked (to say the least)
I have had 2 leaky windshields in 2 different Astro's,all from re & re jobs.
My 88 cargo never leaked,It was done by V8famvan.

Raw deal for sure, Jim. I'm so tired of being hosed by so-called professionals in the automotive world. Strange how the money has to be real but the results sure don't.
I better sign off now or my ranting about this topic would fill a book.

Gave them a call this morning, and they said they would fix it, no mention of covering possible other damages, but I want to see it fixed and not leaking first if you know what I mean. What stinks about this is it isn't like I have the tools to do it myself. If I could, I certainly would.

Thats really frustrating, if thier going to fix it for you, then maybe watch them work on it. like Reaper said, I had the same thing happen and I was breathing fire when saw water dripping from the headliner. Sanja (Reaper) called the guy back for me (cause I wanted to rip the guys ear off ). The guy says he'll have a look at it... I said he's not touching my van (if your not going to do it right the first time, what makes me think your going to do it right the second time?!). I took it in to a different place and they said that theres not enough bead around the frame, so in some spots the butyl isn't even touching the glass, they patched it up to stop the leak, But I'm getting it all re-done. I took my van in because I thought that someone who does windshields for a living would do a better job then if I was to do it for the first time... I'm considering fixing it myself.

Been there, done that, got a couple of those t-shirts.... It's called Sigma-6.... the latest and greatest version of quality control. It's a spin off from an old MIL-spec that calls 95% "good enough". A lot of North American business have quietly adopted it.

The order says 20 chicken nuggets? 95% of the time you'll get 'em at the drive-thru.... as you are down the hi-way before you realize it. Appointment times? Hey... if 95% of the appointments are kept, that's considered a success. 95% of the paint job is without orange peel, the crankcase is filled at least 95% of the way, the scale at the store is correct 95% of the time..... 95% of the windshields do not leak, and if they do it's usually near the bottom or down the sides where it's not gonna be noticed anyway....

Now are you catching on why North American business is faltering, out-sourcing, slipping & can't keep up with the rest of the world.... Management said it was OK to do it that way... I hear it everyday in the telecommunications industry.

I just ain't getting on a plane who's engines & landing gear work 95% of the time.... oh! but wait!!! We have outsourced most heavy maintenance on NA's commercial fleets to 3rd world countries.... where there are only 1 or 2 A&P mechanics in the whole dock.... and the rest of the 'mechanics' are not even in possession of a High School education.

Yeah.... got me started. I had it happen to me.... a leaky windshield at the top on my van.... it was not pretty when I took it back. Cost that little fool his franchise... I made sure of it.

there should be a holmes on homes for automobiles...... it doesn't surprise me at all....some people just dont give a shit and others just don't have the experience or knowledge.....i won't name any names but i've had a few jobs come in which i've had to fix and the cars have actually caught fire due to poor installs......

oh and lets not get started on home jobs......i hired a guy to install our laminate flooring who stated he had so many years experience in doing floors and since we bought it from him i figured why not. so a 5 hour job max. turns into 16 hrs and i go outside to see what this fool is actually doing........didn't even know how to use a jig saw properly.....i kid you not....he was holding the jigsaw a couple inches higher than the board trying to cut using the tip of the blade........

It's called Sigma-6.... the latest and greatest version of quality control. It's a spin off from an old MIL-spec that calls 95% "good enough". A lot of North American business have quietly adopted it.

The order says 20 chicken nuggets? 95% of the time you'll get 'em at the drive-thru.... as you are down the hi-way before you realize it. Appointment times? Hey... if 95% of the appointments are kept, that's considered a success. 95% of the paint job is without orange peel, the crankcase is filled at least 95% of the way, the scale at the store is correct 95% of the time..... 95% of the windshields do not leak, and if they do it's usually near the bottom or down the sides where it's not gonna be noticed anyway....

Now are you catching on why North American business is faltering, out-sourcing, slipping & can't keep up with the rest of the world.... Management said it was OK to do it that way... I hear it everyday in the telecommunications industry.

I just ain't getting on a plane who's engines & landing gear work 95% of the time.... oh! but wait!!! We have outsourced most heavy maintenance on NA's commercial fleets to 3rd world countries.... where there are only 1 or 2 A&P mechanics in the whole dock.... and the rest of the 'mechanics' are not even in possession of a High School education.

I can't even talk about this subject,,service, here in this country, a joke. There goes my blood pressure.

Lack of service is the main reason my hernia surgery took over a year and a half to be done. No return calls with instructions on what medications to come off of or when and filthy Doctor offices. I told several nurses who I called on many occasions that it was like we're building rocket ships to the moon. Damn, how hard is it to call a patient and tell them to stop taking this or that this many days before surgery. I've done the 6 Sigma thing but it ain't being done in the Doctor office, that's for sure.
Enough of this,,can't handle it.

Sadly, and I mean sadly, I couldn't be around to see them "fix" it. I had promised my boy we would go to the zoo, and we went to the zoo and had a great day. However, when I got back I saw what they called a fix. They basically have ended up gluing the headliner to the window. That is crap. I will be out there tomorrow, and he will hear how angry I am. I wouldn't call that a proper job, not to mention it probably isn't sealed, instead the water will run behind it on to the top of the headliner causing mold, rust, and finally rotting it through. Other than the cost of getting my money out of him, which I simply cannot afford either in time or money, I am not sure what to do. This "fix" is worse than the original problem as now it has ruined the headliner. Stupid incompetents. I guess learning to do auto glass is my next challenge. Unless he is willing to pay someone else to fix his screw-up, I guess all I can do is write a letter of complaint to the editor of the local newspaper and hope he goes out of business.

Yep, that really sux. And yes, any kind of good service has gone to heck in a handbasket! (That's why we do things ourselves when we can)
Hope you can get it resolved, Mr Riley's.

I feel for ya man. We're in the process of losing a 28K vehicle (motorhome) right now because of a botched re-roof. Choices? deal and salvage the camper, or spend god knows how much on a lawsuit.
Good luck on your van, we're pullin for ya!

Hey Larry, my better half went thru that hospital thing a while back with a burst appendix! Ghe gets a belly ache & goes to see our family Dr, this guy checks her out... and then immediately calls the local hospital, lines-up a surgeon & the notifies me at work.... so far so good.

She then goes the 1/2 mile to the hospital, and enters thru the Emergency Room entrance... is told no, you want the Surgery Entrance.... asks for help in getting there, and receives none... she makes her own way to the Surgery Entrance, and once there is treated well. The folks were great in that portion of the hospital.

Now it's evening and she's out of recovery, I'm with her, and in a private room, (I have killer insurance), and she beeps the nurses station as she would like to go to the restroom, she is told just a moment. Ten minutes later, she beeps the nurses station... and is told just a moment. We hear the guy in the next room beep & get told the same thing. I pop my little Jimmie head out the door to find out what's going on and there we are... it's 'family & friends hour' at the nurse's station.... hubbys & kids & friends are hanging out watching the big flat screen... I flippin' blew!!! Started hollerin' that the pimple-faced kid at the local burger joint has a higher level of integrity and motivation than those people employed on that floor & I yanked the cable outta the side of that flat screen, tell the hubbys & kiddies it's time to go & the nursing staff to get their asses back on the job.... as they scurried away, one nurse asked another "Who had to go to the bathroom?", the response was "I dunno.... they'll beep us again if they have not gone on their own". That was the last straw.... see.... I golf with two of the folks on the Board of Directors for that place.... and I'm not sorry for their termination for 'just cause', (that meant no unemployment). The larger problem? Management never corrected those behaviors, (and the customers never bitched loud enough), thus they continued & ballooned into a pattern of shitty, yet acceptable, performance

Back to an earlier post. It's management. To me it's amazing that Ford, GM, Mopar are going down & like to blame the workers & workers unions.... yet Honda, Subaru, Toyota all have plants here, pay well, and draw from the same pool of workers. The only difference? Management being stuck in it's selfish & self-serving paradigm(s). Unions would not exist if Management could behave itself. This time next year, a major-player in the world's telecommunications industry is most likely gonna go out on strike.... I urge you to support the workers & boycott that company when the strike vote is taken. The workers are trying to do it the 'right way'.

I know, I've been craft & management in two different industries.

So it doesn't leak. I still don't like it, and want to see if he will do something to make me a happier customer, but most people who I asked said removing the windshield and replacing it properly is likely to nick it and thus cause a crack, so having someone else do it would probably mean getting another windshield, not something I can afford. So I will wait for this one to crack if it ever does.