WINDSHIELD REPAIR JOURNALUltra B-O-N-D

December 2003

Long Crack Repair Holas Up In Rollover Crash

Mary Weaver of Texas, escaped unharmed when sherolled her 2000 Chevy Blazer (shown in photo with

, Reddells), thanks to a 12- inch crack repair that saved theoriginal factory seal and windshield. There was barely anyroof crush and although the windshield cracked in ahundred places the repaired crack remained intact. Shecalled and thanked Ultra Bond Licensee, Jeff Reddell of

Pace Windshield Repair and Replacement who did therepair.

Thank God, Mary did not call her insurance

company (Farmers Insurance) before calling Pace

CLEARANCE SPECIAL

Makita charger 12V $26.00 - SAVE OVER $10.00Makita charger 120V $42.00 - SAVE $5.00

* QUANTITY LIMITED

ALL SALE PRICES END JANUARY 16, 2004.

EXTRA 10% OFF ALL ORDERSMADE AND PAID AT TIME OF ORDER.

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Windshield Repair or this could have been a tragedy.Mary's call would have been forwarded to Safelite and

given their false pitch that; "cracks longer than a dollarbill (six inches) are not repairable." Instead she called Pace

Windshield Repair and Replacement first, who for safetyreasons, only replaces if it is not repairable according tothe Windshield Repair Industry Guidelines andRecommendations. After the repair was done, Mary sentthe bill to Farmers Insurance, and was short-paid bySafelite.

The fact that the repair holds up in real world crashesand lab tests shows that windshield repair restoresstructural integrity. What is more important than that isthat it saves the OE installation, so if an accident does

happen, occupants can be saved from ending up in awheelchair or coffin.

Ultra Bond Long Crack repairs also remained intactin 33 out of 33 impacts during independent ANSI/SAEZ26.1 Impact and Penetration Tests. Independent ASTMFlexural Strength Tests also found Ultra Bond LongCrack Repair to be + or - 7% of new glass. Other testsalso found that Ultra Bond resin lost no strength and/orgained strength after exposure.

Always do your best job on your repairs,it really does matter.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 Long Crack Repair Holds Up In Rollover1 Clearance Special2 NEW Curing Lights2 EXTREME Crack opener3 Tips from the Crackmaster

3 Newsletter Special3 Lawsuit Update4 Tech to Tech

Ultra BOND e-mail address and webe-mail: repair@ultrabond.com

web: www.ultrabond.com

www.edgeguard.com

TECH TO ECH

Introducing Melody &Jeff Reddell

Jeff and Melody met in 1990, married in 1992 and had

their first child in 1994. When Melody heard about Ultra

Bond, she thought it would be a nice side income which

would enable her to spend more time with their new baby.

It was soon apparent to them that this "side" job had a lot of

potential, especially for two people who value their timewith their family.

Melody began her repair business in August of 1994 and

was able to quit her other job that October. Jeff joined her

full time in April of 1995, starting in a small single baylocation and then moving to a larger shop around the

business first anniversary. Although the majority of their

repairs were performed mobile, Melody states that they felt

the location was essential to show stability to their "gun-shy"

insutance agents who were accustomed to seeing "here todayand gone tomorrow" repair techs. Also, they hoped to show

that they would be around to honor their warranty. The area

they work, Texarkana, has a base population of around100,000.

It didn't take them long to master stone chip repair and

say that it took them doing about 20 good crack repairs

before they were comfortable tackling the more severe

looking damage. They understood that their repairs would

hold if they did their part correctly. More importantly, they

let their customers know that they weren't just trying to stop

the damage from spreading, but when done correctly, a

repair would restore the strength and improve theappearance of the chip or crack.

It is still unfortunate that customers are saying "I wastold that cracks couldn't be fixed", but the Reddell's are

excited when after they see the results they hear "Wow! I am

going to have to tell my friends about y'aW"

The Reddell's have tried several forms of marketing buthave found that "word of mouth" and signs on their vehicles

works the best. They are frequently stopped or called by

customers who see their signs on their cars. They back up

their quality repairs with prompt service, a written warranty

and making themselves available to the customer. They alsoadvertise in the yellow pages, distribute business cards, have

other logo marked items and occasionally rent a booth at a

special event. Melody and Jeff are smart enough to realize

that all this would be for naught if they didn't respond to the

customer's call, meaning answering their phones, returningcalls and setting the appointment time convenient for thecustomer.

The area that the Reddell's work is loaded with glass

dealers; approximately 30, some even offering "free" repairs,but none of them attempt the type of work they do, and

according to Melody "rarely a day goes by that we repairsomething that others said could not be done".

Although repair is their primary focus, Melody and Jeff

do offer replacement. Their business has had to change to

keep up with the change in the industry (Glass Networks)

and economy. They have seen the profit margin in

replacements "squeezed almost to the breaking point" but

assumed it would help repair. However, they believe that the

hike in premiums has led to less coverage for the insured,

who is choosing a higher deductible and to not repair any

damage until it has to be replaced. They also believe that it

would be different if we had the support of the insurance

companies on long crack repair. The Reddell's were in

business before the networks came along and agree that it

was much easier for them AND for the insurance agents

when the networks weren't processing the claims. Have youever called Progressive Insurance? The Reddell's mention

this company and we've had the unpleasant experience as

well. This call can take more than 20 minutes - many times

the repair is completed before they are done asking

questions. They are also aware of the "steering" that goes on,

and have experienced short-pay problems from the

networks. On one occasion they found out that the full

amount was paid by the insurance carrier, but adjusted at the

network level. (We need to level the networks!) This is

affecting their reputation because the invoice the customer

signs and receives says $55.00, but the notice they receive

from the insurance company says $771 (Melody was toostressed about this subject to comment further.)

Melody's advice to other technicians: "Educate your

customers. If they know more about what you can do, they

can be a more effective marketing tool for you. Try to givethe customer a little more than they expect. They will

remember your service, the quality and their confidence in

you will show in repeat business."

Answer: 10%

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NEW Curing LIGHTSOur 12V light is 16" long and very light weight (10.6

oz), allowing it to rest on the injector. These days all

vehicles have working 12 volt plugs for cell phones,

eliminating the need for batteries or a wall plug.

The new 11OV lights are of a sturdy design, yet still a

nice weight. It is available in 2 sizes:

8 watt, 18" (10 oz) - $45.00 (reg. $49)

$35.00 (reg. $39.00)

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Makita Lights

Since the Makita lamps have been discontinued,

we will no longer be carrying the chargers *(seeclearance special). We will continue to carry the

batteries, bulbs and lamp covers. We will also

continue to carry the bulbs for the current lights you

have with the exception of the Little Sun.

15 watt, 24" (12 oz) - $55.00 (reg. $59)

Cure time: Stone breaks cure in 60 seconds or less.The cure time for cracks has been 1-2 minutes.

Two minutes is recommended in winter.

The EXTREME Crack Opener

This 12" stainless steel, low profile design, with 3" inch flat suction cups opens cracks extremely wide. This

extreme design makes repairing floater cracks a breeze as well as the vertical crack from top to bottom. The

EXTREME slides easily and the low profile still allows for repair of L-Shaped cracks off the bottom runningnear the dashboard. Use for all long cracks for easier injection using the patented Ultra Bond high viscositylong crack methods.

• $55.00 (reg. $59)

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