Safelite AutoGlass

No communication at all.

I had originally scheduled mobile service to replace a broken rear windshield on 10/4, the tech came out to take a look, but determined he didn't have the right parts and had to order it. No issues there.

Then...nothing for an entire week. After the silence, I send an email to the store manager to follow up, but no response again for another week.

So I decided to call them. After the call, they followed up and provided solid service. The work done is good for the price and would've gotten 4-5 stars, but the initial lack of communication was disappointing and dropped it down.

I should have looked here first before coming to this disaster of a shop. See how the 1 star reviews are the most?

Let me give you my experience:

I heard the radio jingles; Safelite Replace, found a place nearby and called up. The recording said to make an appointment on the website, and I did that - The appointment came up - and I dropped off the car in the morning. I took an Uber back home. The receptionist was very friendly.

I got a call 30 minutes later, saying they couldn't open the car. They needed to turn the key the right way (counterclockwise.) (That should have been a clue about my tech's competence.) I'm dealing with a person that keeps pushing on a door that says "Pull" and declares it's locked.

I got a call another 30 minutes later saying the car wouldn't start; I said well, you need to insert the key before you press start button. They said they tried that.

So I had to drive back and see what the heck was going on. Once I got there, I inserted the key and car started up right away. (just like the last 1,000 times.)

At this point, they blamed me for the car, and the you can guess my confidence level on the tech working on my car.

Took my keys and left immediately.

TL: DR: Tech doesn't know how to open a basic car door, doesn't know how to push/start cars work. I wasted half my day. Hire people who can pass the basic test of turning a key both ways (left and right) before saying it's broken.

I had a very disappointing experience here. Part of my windshield wiper blew off in the rain and I remember that they had replaced it recently. The windshield got a faint scratch from the metal part of the wiper. So I took it in and the manager Erika took a look at the scratch and the paperwork on her end and told me that they would take care of replacing the windshield and everything was on them. Today was my appointment and she was not there. The service person and the manager present refused to agree to the repairs. They said that they couldn't see the invoice for wipers on their end so didn't feel responsible. They also said that since the wipers are different brands they probably did not replace the wipers earlier. But what did Erika check then? And why did she commit to everything and promise the windshield replacement at no extra charge. I was told to drop off the car early in the morning and I woke my toddler an hour earlier to reach on time. This Safelight does not care about their customers at all. It would have been perfectly fine if Erika told me the first day that there must be some misunderstanding instead I feel I was humiliated unnecessarily and hope upper management looks into this.
They kept asking me for invoice. But I have nothing from them. Not even if earlier services so I did not expect this to be an issue.
And all through my wait and harassment, Erika did not call me once to explain ... I was very impressed with her when I first met her at the shop. And equally disappointed today at her lack of ownership.
Now after reading all the terrible reviews I'm so glad that they didn't replace the glass. Looks like a lot of people have suffered in their hands ...

First off if you view my other YELP reviews they are all very positive. I believe that great service deserves taking time to provide a great review. UNFORTUNATELY, this is my first negative review for a company -- It took multiple circumstances to produce this review:
1) There were many NEGATIVE Yelp reviews about this specific SafeLite Redwood City shop (inability to recalibrate properly, poor/no communication, etc) so I needed to see for myself by visiting the SafeLite shop a few days before my actual appointment. "Oh we do many BMWs like yours. Not a problem; however, if you had a Maserati or some other high-end complex vehicle...", says Erika, the manager to me. Also, I informed Erika of my dash cam mounted on the window and asked that they safely detach the mount when they replace the windshield. "No worries. I'll put that on the order.".

2) I arrive at 7AM when the shop opens. I get my car checked in by Erika. It seems that there was clearly a problem as only 2 of their shop installers made it in, and other installers called and said they wouldn't be making it in. Erika informed me that due to the short-handed staff this may take the entire day to get done, "But we will get it done by the end of the day...", says Erika.

3) 9:30am I get a call from Erika: "Hello, it seems that you weren't able to make your appointment. Shall we reschedule?" What?!? REALLY??? I had to remind Erika of who I was and that I met her at 7AM to drop off my car and SHE was the one that took my car key and checked me in! Not a good sign...

4) 2:30pm: I get a call from the installer, Gavin, stating that they can't recalibrate my car, and therefore can't replace the windshield. NOTE: If I could have given this Yelp review a ZERO I probably would have; however, the only polite staff member, who seemed to know what he was saying, was Gavin (Yes - Don't let this team member go. He was able to explain why Safelite could NOT calibrate and suggested that I go to a dealership to have them do the recalibration and get the work done).

BUYER BEWARE. I was assured by this SafeLite shop that they could do the work "no problem". Not sure what options my insurance company is going to offer me to get this fixed; however, it won't be going to SafeLite to get it done.

Took my car there as it was recommended by my insurance company to have the windshield replaced. No communication as to when the car was going to be ready passed the promised time. I called 3 times each time having to go through their annoying automated system just so that the person answering the call would just pickup and hangup the phone. I know they knew who the caller but she still decided to hangup without answer the my calls. I called my insurance company to have them get of hold of the store and still not sure when the car will be ready. The insurance agent asked the front desk person why she would hangup the phone but apparently she wouldn't comment on it. There are much better option out there.

A series of unfortunate events (aka broken windshield) led me to my visit here.

I had already scheduled my visit online so all that was needed was me showing up at my scheduled time and date. There's many locations but they were all booked up so up to the Peninsula I went.

I GPS my happy self there and recognized the area it was in right away. It's extremely condensed area with a lot of street work being done. I saw the shop in the corner and immediately worried at how small the entrance and parking area was. There was no spot open so I'm not sure how they handle things when it's so busy. I waited and lucky for me a person was leaving. I parked and went in.

There was someone in front of me being helped and it was a walk in as they told him the time it would take to get the job done. So they do take walk ins. After he was helped the young kid walked off and never came back. I waited and waited and a woman came up and asked me if I had been helped . I said no and she took care of me. Within a minute I was in and out of that place. I already knew they could take up to 2 hours so I planned accordingly to not have to wait in their tiny waiting area.

They finished the work in about 1 hour and 15 minutes and called me that my car was ready. When I got there my car was parked off to the side almost halfway out the street (basically ready to go). Again the waiting area and parking lot are very small. So getting your car soon as it's done is the best way to go. Got my receipt and my keys and I was a happy camper on my way home with a replaced windshield. I was also given instructions on no power washes for certain amount of hours. I also received a text a day later to remove all tape. My windshield replacement was done great. It was clean and like wearing a new pair of glasses. The job was done professionally and there was no broken glass or anything around it. Great job no issues.

Beyond the slow check in for a scheduled appointment the visit was straightforward and done in a timely manner. Would consider using this place again if check in is quicker so I can go about my merry way.

Made an appointment. Took car in for repair. Services was quick and satisfactory. No problems to report here.

The messed up my door in January and I thought the head aches were over but when I took a friend to the dog park with me he was stuck inside. The passenger door won't open from the inside, glad I found out at the dog park and not in an accident. Could have been deadly.

Two trucks showed up (two hours late) and did not have the the required trim piece. They could not assure me that the windshield replacement could be done to satisfaction and I suggested that they leave. What a wasted day.
The service was scheduled five days in advance and the company had the make, model and year of the vehicle and still failed to be prepared for the windshield replacement. OK, today is 4/20, perhaps they were just too "relaxed".
Came recommended by AAA. Big mistake.

Wholly $&!&!$ show! Weeks and weeks of rescheduling. Three times the glass came in with broken defrost connection. Really. I think it has been a total of 4 times total of them coming out or had to reorder or insurance problems or blah blah blah.

I am going to start a windshield replacement company just so they have competition!