Marty S.

I blame myself for letting USAA push me into using SafeLite for the crack in my windshield. I told USAA I have what the BMW dealer calls, "a classic car in mint condition", a 2006 BMW V12. I told USAA these cars are very complicated but they kept transferring me to SafeLite when I called to report the damage. Well, first you have a 'Cable Guy' appointment with SafeLite: they come between 8-5 so you wait all day. I arranged to work from home. SafeLite called to let me know all of the parts for my windshield didn't arrive so they cancelled that appointment, a day lost. Next week the Tech came to my house, a very nice and eager fellow. I wanted to watch him work but didn't want to appear to be looking over his shoulder so I went in the house. About a half-hour later he knocked on the door and said he wanted to show me why he was stopping work: he had the whole windshield wiper assembly removed and said he couldn't get a spacer off and that BMW would have to do the work. Another day lost. As he left, by the way, he charged my credit card my $200 dollar deductible even though the work was incomplete. Mistake number 2, following SafeLite's guidance to have my credit card on record.

So now I need to make an appointment with BMW and they way that worked is that I took the car there, left it overnight and in the morning the BMW Tech took the wipers off, the SafeLite Tech put the windshield in, and the BMW Tech put the wipers back on. However, the technician etched the paint on the hood and left front fender with solvent, ruining it, and broke the passenger-side wiper assembly to the tune of $600. The paint work is scheduled for August 1st, 2022 and will be over $1,000. USAA said they use SafeLite because the BMW dealerships cost too much. Not really.

Then the actual nightmare began. When I called USAA they sent me to SafeLite Warranty and they could have cared less. I was told to upload the BMW repair estimate and I was promised, actually promised, I would get a call the next day and I would be "taken care of": I uploaded the estimate and waited all day the next day, Tuesday, for a call back. About 4:30 pm I called and was told they hadn't looked at any uploads and didn't know that status of my claim, but that before they could honor the claim they said they would have to send an adjuster and they would send one right away: that was three weeks ago. Whenever I call to ask how the warranty claim is going whoever picks up the phone knows nothing about it the current status but said they would look into it and call me back. To date not one person has ever called me back.

So, I called USAA and reported the damage as a separate comprehensive claim, another $200 deductible but I can't drive my car without working wipers and SafeLite has done nothing to date. Zero. Not even a callback. I doubt they've ever paid a warranty claim.

I've had the wipers repaired and it came to almost $700 once it was all done and as I've said, painting to be done in August. Right now my beautiful car has solvent streaks across the hood and down the fender but that will be repainted then.

Never, ever, ever, let SafeLite replace your windshield if you have a car you care about, and never, ever, ever, let USAA talk you into using anyone other than the installer of your choice. If USAA had done what I had asked I would have made one trip to the BMW dealership and been done. Oh, and by the way, if BMW had installed the windshield, it turns out, it would have only cost $100 more than SafeLite, and now USAA has to pay way more than that.

Like I say, I am disappointed in myself for letting myself be talked into something so inherently against my better judgement, you would think I would know better by now.