my recent bad experience with Glasfit

6 June 2017 14:04

I cannot believe insurance companies insist on dealing with the utter incompetent Glasfit, previously named PG Glass.

My current experience with them makes me wish they did not exist. On Friday I put in a claim to my insurance company for replacement of a windscreen. This I did after establishing the replacement price of the windscreens range from R1200 and R2400 and discovering that my excess is for windscreen replacement is only R375 so I put in a claim at about lunchtime. I waited for Glasfit to call on Friday and they didn't. I waited all weekend but NOTHING. Monday morning at about 8.15 I get a call from someone asking for the VIN number for my car. I found that strange and told her I was driving and she said she would call me in 10 minutes. I eventually stopped and waited for her to call me back. NOPE. Then I got on my way again and she eventually called me back 45 minutes later and again I was driving. In the meantime I got and SMS from my insurance company to ask me if everything was satisfactory with my claim.

They then called me and I told them the problem. The insurance company sent the VIN number through. AGAIN I would have thought that the windscreen would be ordered. At lunchtime I go to the Glasfit shop and am told that it is too late for that days delivery bit it will be there in Tuesday between 10 and 11.

I arrive at 9.50 hoping that the glass would be there but NOPE. An assistant phones head office to establish where the glass is. It is somewhere in Randburg and will be there soon, in the meantime bring the car in and they can start stripping it. Stripper states "I am reluctant to start stripping the old glass out as I would like to make sure Head Office has sent the correct one."

Eventually, I left there at 10.30 and told them when the glass had arrived they can call me and I will find the time to get there.

I pointed out to both Outsurance AND Glasfit that the glass should have been replaced on Friday and that I was extremely upset by their utter incompetence.

EVENTUALLY at 11.30 I get a call to say the glass had arrived. I returned to Glasfit at about 2.00pm and took my car in. There were no chairs available and no refreshments of any sort. All that was there was an empty water cooler and no magazines.

The glass installed is made by FUYAO and thinner than the one replaced. It does not say that it is shatterproof. Merely that it is laminated. BUT had the SABS mark on it. The tinting at the top of the glass is very pale in comparison to the old glass.

Five or six years ago when I got this car I replaced the windscreen from another supplier for a lot less than the exorbitant price quoted by Glassfit/PG Glass. When I went to have the car assessed by Glasfit Cresta I was informed by the assessor that the glass was of inferior quality because it did not say “Shatterprufe.” Now the same Glasfit shop is selling FUYAO which also does not say “shatterprufe.”

The old glass was DKG which did say shatterprufe and had the SABS mark on it

Beware the thieves of the panel beating business

Recently,  I had an accident in my car where I rear-ended a smaller car.  While the damage to my car was substantial it was certainly not write off material.

Front view immediately after accident.  The number plate is cracked across the top.

It was duly put on a low bed because it was not starting.  It was then carted off to somewhere in Chamdor by Magalies Towing.  However, I have since discovered that the vehicle was assessed by Anthony Knight of SIAS in Strijdom Park and signed off by Joao Carvalho of Outsurance.

Two days later I got an assessment from the Insurance company saying that it was not economical to repair, given that the car was only insured for the market value of R20000. The assessment was for R21 388.

At the scene of the accident, while waiting for the tow truck I did a quick sourcing of the relevant parts and came up with a part replacement total of about R7500.

The front lights (complete)  I found for R3000, the right front indicator light R650, the bonnet- R2500 (second hand), the grill - R1000.  The rest of the work word be straightening the cradle and the front valance where the UNDAMAGED radiator was attached. NOTE NO WATER under car!!!

Outsurance's assessment included a new radiator for R850.  Two years ago I had to have my radiator either fixed or replaced and I shopped around.  I could not get an alternative radiator. Mercedes Benz could supply a new one for R3500 but my mechanic said that only the tubes had to be replaced as the upper and lower tanks were OK.  That cost me just on R2000.  I would dearly love to know where the assessors are going to get a NEW radiator for that car at R850!!!!

STRIP AND ASSEMBLE	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
LOOSE PARTS	0	132	0	132
ENGINE BAY COMPONENTS	0	528	0	528
FRONTAL COMPONENTS	0	316.8	0	316.8
COLOUR MATCHING AND BLENDING	0	132	0	132
PAINT	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
FENDER RIGHT FRONT - BOLTED	1255	0	0	1255
VALANCE FRONT LOWER	460	0	0	460
FRONT PANEL - WELDED	800	0	0	800
INNER TRAY LEFT FRONT	570	0	0	570
INNER TRAY RIGHT FRONT	570	0	0	570
CHASSIS LEG LEFT FRONT	345	0	0	345
CHASSIS LEG RIGHT FRONT	345	0	0	345
COLOUR MATCHING AND BLENDING	800	0	0	800
BONNET	1485	0	0	1485
REPAIRS	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
VALANCE FRONT LOWER	0	792	0	792
FRONT PANEL - WELDED	0	1056	0	1056
FENDER RIGHT FRONT - BOLTED	0	132	0	132
SUPPLY AND FIT - GENUINE	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
BUMPER COVER FRONT	1500	316.8	0	1816.8
COOLANT	90	13.2	0	103.2
NUMBER PLATE	120	6.6	0	126.6
SUNDRY ITEMS	94.85	0	0	94.85
SUPPLY AND FIT - ALTERNATIVE	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
HEADLAMP LEFT FRONT	1250	132	0	1382
HEADLAMP RIGHT FRONT	1250	132	0	1382
INDICATOR RIGHT FRONT	475	52.8	0	527.8
RADIATOR	850	316.8	0	1166.8
RADIATOR SHROUD	625	79.2	0	704.2
BONNET GRILL	825	105.6	0	930.6
OUTWORK	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
BODY SEALANT	0	0	0	30
RUST PROOFING	0	0	0	60
PARTIAL REPAIRS	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
INNER TRAY LEFT FRONT	0	132	0	132
INNER TRAY RIGHT FRONT	0	132	0	132
CHASSIS LEG LEFT FRONT	0	132	0	132
CHASSIS LEG RIGHT FRONT	0	132	0	132
SUPPLY AND FIT - SECOND HAND	Part	Labour	Betterment	Total Cost
BONNET	2500	316.8	0	2816.8

Coolant for R90.00?  Very expensive water.  All one needs is 1 litre of antifreeze for the whole radiator.  Cost R30.00.

Considering the chassis legs were not damaged in the accident why would they have to be repaired?

The view from the left side.  The bumper is nearly straight and that damage was from previous damage.

View under the bonnet at scene.  Not radiator is pushed back, the shroud is complete and NOT damaged.  The upper cradle is pushed straight.

I rejected their assessment and asked for my car back which they did and the insurance company gave me R8000 odd as settlement for my claim.  The vehicle was then sent to my panel beater who told me that there was absolutely NO fuel in the car at all.  The tank was dry.  The battery had been replaced with a vastly inferior battery and then when I went to visit I discovered that my corner piece of the bumper which I bought a few years ago had been stolen, my car jack had vanished and a half 5 litre oil was also stolen.

I put in a claim to the insurance company for the missing items and was paid out R1850, which was great.

When I delivered my new battery to the panel beaters and some petrol we tried to start the car and it would not start, so we tried to find the fault and discovered that the distributor had been maliciously damaged.  At the scene of the accident I checked under the bonnet and the distributor was complete and undamaged.  It was not touching any parts of the radiator or radiator shroud which had been pushed back.

At the panel beater the distributor cap lifted very easily, without a screw driver and the rotor arm was missing as was the inner cover.  The central tit on distributor cap was snapped off, which means it will have to be replaced.  Mercedes Benz has given a quote of R1033.30 for all three parts.

Distributor cap - missing central tit.

Distributor missing cover and Rotor Arm

My conclusion is that the Assessment departments and the panel beaters are defrauding the Insurance companies.  Not only the Insurance companies but the public as well.

People are under the impression that they should trust their insurance companies.  We shouldn't!! They are there to make money NOT to help anyone, least of all their clients, who happily cough over MILLIONS in the hopes of getting good service.

We have to question everything.  When I initially put my old Mercedes Benz onto my insurance I was told that my windscreen excess was R2000!  I asked why when I had just replaced the windscreen for R350 fitted?  They then reduced my windscreen excess to R350.  I suggested they look into their suppliers for fraud - then.

I know PG Glass and subsidiaries, were accused of industry collusion in March 2016, to which their CEO vehemently denies it.

COMPETITION COMMISSION INVESTIGATES SEVERAL COMPANIES FOR ALLEGED COLLUSION

Penis poles in Johannesburg

Saw these at Hollard Street on Marshall Street in Joburg. Penis poles!!!!!