I rarely leave negative reviews, but after this experience I felt it was warranted.
The actual windshield replacement appears to have been done well. Safelite installed OEM Volkswagen glass and completed the recalibration, and the technician at the local shop was professional.
The reason for the two star rating is the customer service and communication leading up to the repair.
After a regional hail storm, I completely understood that OEM windshields would be delayed. My wife & I had no issue waiting for the correct part. The problem was that throughout the process, no one seemed to know the status of our order or our appointment.
Our original appointment was postponed because the OEM windshield had to be ordered directly from Volkswagen. We were first told about four weeks, then six weeks, and a new appointment was scheduled. As that appointment approached, I received an automated call asking me to confirm it. Since I hadn’t heard anything else, I proactively emailed Safelite to verify the glass had arrived.
It was only because I reached out did anyone begin looking into the order. I was then told the system didn’t show the part had arrived, but no one could reach the local shop to confirm (even though they called and emailed them). I was advised I probably shouldn’t come to the appointment, yet no one officially canceled it, no one rescheduled it, and customer service couldn’t tell me whether the repair could actually be completed.
We had to make the decision to still go, driving two vehicles (to leave our car to be repaired and come back later to get it). However, even when I checked in and asked to verify that the part was there, I was dismissed and told I wouldn’t have the appointment if it wasn’t. Not 15 minutes later, we get a call from the Tech, indicating that the part hadn’t arrived yet, and they didn’t know when it would. We then drove back to pick up our vehicle (wasting our time, gas $ on both vehicles), got a small apology for the mix up and were told the store manager was on vacation and we could reach out next week when he was back.
The following week, we get an email from the Parts department with Safelite indicating the part was to arrive on Thursday. Even though their system then accidentally rescheduled us for a Tuesday and then a Friday, before we had to correct them again to the following Saturday (when we were available) the whole thing was a mess and in the end no call from the store manager at that branch apologizing for their issues.
The lack of communication was the most frustrating part. There should be a process to verify that parts are in stock before confirming appointments, and customers should be contacted proactively when there is a problem.
In the end, the repair itself was completed correctly, and I appreciate the technicians who performed the work. However, the scheduling, communication, and customer service throughout the process fell well below the level we expected. We were offered no discount(s) only a brief apology for the issue(s) and no call from the store manager or customer service.
In the end, it left a bad taste in our mouths and most likely won’t use them again in the future.