Yesterday I took a call from a guy looking to get a 24 inch crack repaired on his windshield. It seems he had been stopped in Edmond by the police for driving with a cracked windshield. The officer that stopped him, gave him a warning to get his windshield taken care of according to the phone caller.

A couple of weeks ago my wife was stopped at a road block manned by Spencer Police and The Oklahoma Highway Patrol. She said they were checking licenses, insurance paper work and looking vehicles over, like for cracked windshields.

In talking with one of my contacts in the glass business I was told individuals had been getting windshields replaced because law enforcement had been involved. I ran a post last year about a guy getting a $150 ticket in Moore, for driving a truck with a cracked windshield. Last year I took several calls about a replacement windshield  because they had been rejected for a driver's license driving test, due to a cracked windshield. As I posted earlier, in talking with the Department Of Safety, if the officer feels the vehicle is unsafe he can and will refuse to do the driving test. 

I think like my wife it's just a matter of time before Oklahoma City police start going after vehicles with cracked windshields. I've talked to several that have been stopped for defective lights, including my wife, due to a bad tag light. With a number of towns in the area cracking down, pardon the pun, on cracked windshields. Combined with the public out cry about junk, unsafe vehicles on the road. Driving a car with anything that can be seen as a safety issue will be an invitation to have an encounter with the police or Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

As I posted earlier according to The Oklahoma Department Of Safety, if the windshield looks cracked then it is subject to a ticket. My experience with long crack repair is that it doesn't work. On a couple of occasions where the crack has been stopped it still looked cracked. Which means it is unsafe. Virtually all that are doing long crack repair guarantee that if it fails they will credit the amount you paid towards a new windshield. To me it just looks like a way to sell you a windshield. Likewise none of these shops that I know of meet the AGRSS standard, which is the latest safety standard for windshield replacements.

Do yourself a favor, check your windshield regularly for chips. Repair them in a timely manner. If your windshield is cracked just replace it for your safety.

In conjunction with April being National Car Care Month, Mr. David Webb, the staff of Metro Tech and the auto mechanic students are having a vehicle inspection.

Free to the public, this is a great time to start getting your car or truck ready for summer. This is a win, win situation; the students gain experience in their career field, while the vehicle owner can get their auto or truck a check up before summer.

The inspection will be held April 14, 2007, from 10 AM to 1 PM, at the Automotive Tech Center on the South Bryant Campus, 4901 S Bryant.

To get exact instructions on how to get to the inspection, click on this link. Map Quest

Once you get to the campus here is a map to help locate where the inspection is being held, of course the area will be marked.

Items that will be checked include:

I will be there to help out and answer any questions you might have about windshield repair.

For further information contact Mr. David Webb, at (405) 605-2236.

It has been sometime ago that I began offering a discount on windshield chip repairs for those paying with debit and charge cards. I have received a lot of comments regarding this, some that are quite creative to say the least. Therefore I thought I would explain why this discount came about and why for security and to prevent loss it's offered.

I got the idea for this from a couple of suppliers my company uses. I then explored the idea, talking to banks and others that I trust in their opinion.

To begin with a mobile business presents some problems. One being receiving payment so that any employee along with customers would be safe and secure. With this I try to make the business run as efficiently as possible. Time is money, because with each task done it requires time and pay for that labor. Please remember this as you read this post.

Before I list the pros and cons of each type of payment we take, here is some general information. Both cash and checks we receive have a hidden additional cost. To begin with checks must be marked for deposit and a deposit slip filled out. Followed by a trip to the bank and waiting in line. Besides the cost of gas, the cost of labor from filling out paperwork to waiting in line costs money. At a previous bank we had a problem with a night deposit, resulting in lost funds and customer's checks. It was the our bank's fault and it created major problems.

Another cost depends on the bank we use. Our current bank appears to operate as most in respect to service charges for deposits. We are provided a number of transactions at no cost, after wards a charge is applied per transaction. A transaction is one check or cash deposit. Example: Any amount of cash and 10 checks deposited, equals 11 transactions. If those 11 transactions were paid by our customers with a check card, debit card, bank card or charge card, the total amount would be deposited electronically as one lump sum and would equal 1 transaction. A savings of 10 transactions.

With that said here are my thoughts concerning each type of payment my company accepts.

CASH - The mighty dollar which represents the greatest security risk for me. I've lost track of the number of pizza delivery and cab driver's to name a few that have been robbed. While I won't go into details I have put procedures in place to reduce the amount of loss in the event of robbery. Also to reduce injuries and death during the theft. I will say that the amount anyone carries is limited and no money is kept at the office. This requires more trips to the bank, resulting in more transactions with the bank and time lost that could be spent repairing windshields.

I'm glad to see that apparently counterfeit money has been reduced. Not long ago news reports showed a number of incidents involving funny money. Any counterfeit bill we mistakenly take in represents a loss. This due to the fact the bill must be surrendered by law and the government does not replace it.

CHECKS - Represent the greatest risk of loss. While I don't get many bad checks, each incident means time spent collecting money. The last event was caused by a deposit mix up that the customer had with their bank.

Here are somethings you should know about your checks before you write and pay anyone.

a) Any check that you pay with contains the information that others can use to pull money from your account. It is very easy to make checks and cash them. In 2006 I heard of 3 incidents involving this scam. Amounts lost ranged from $1,300 to nearly $6,000. While the banks may credit the loss back to you, a new account will be required.

Just the other day I had a customer tell me that someone they knew had captured their check numbers as they paid bills. The result was this person began taking money from that checking account. In the words of my customer, "it was the worst 6 months of my life". From what I understand it took 6 months of work to fix this fraud.

Checks we receive are protected, however any other checks written by others can result in the check bouncing.

b) With the information on your check, anyone can copy it, go on line and remove money from your account. As MSNBC reported, you paid your baby sitter with a check, they now have all they need to pull money from your account.

c) If you pay any bills electronically pulled like insurance, utilities, etc., you are at risk. If the decimal point is moved by accident just one spot the amount changes dramatically. One customer told us of the correct amount being pulled was $54.30. Unfortunately the amount taken once was $543.00. Due to this they bounced several checks. In this situation "YOU" are responsible for penalties. Further this can be entered on your credit report. I know of several people that have been a victim of this situation.

d) A miss placed check can be washed and cashed for a different amount.

e) You mailed a check to a relative, say as a birthday gift, in a card. A person looking for a check, merely looks in your mail for a colored envelope. Or you set out your bills to be mailed for the postman to pick up. Your information is now available.

f) In talking with several banks they all report it being epidemic the amount of problems with checking accounts.

Bank, Check or Debit Cards - This is one of the most secure type of payments we accept. The payment is guaranteed. It costs us less money to deposit vs. cash or checks. If the customer finds the card number has been compromised they can easily report to the bank the issue. In most incidents they will lose nothing. Further they can get a new card without having to change checking accounts.

Generally using one of these cards costs the same as using a check. You can also track your expenses by logging them on a check register.

Charge Cards - This is the other form of payment we take that is the most secure. Again payment is guaranteed and it costs us less to perform a deposit vs. checks or cash. If the number is compromised one call eliminates the customer's loss.

A wireless charge and debit card terminal used by Glass Aid. It meets the security requirements of Master Card and Visa; providing a safer more secure way to pay for windshield repairs. This allows us to help keep rates low.

Other things to consider:

I have recently found 2 customers that purchase everything with their charge card that gives airline miles. The one customer told me they fly out of the country each vacation and it's been years since they bought a ticket.

Many in the banking industry have told me the day of the check will end soon. Losses due to fraud and other problems will be its undoing. That's probably why many banks are pushing the debit cards. Mid-First at one time and they may still offer it had a number of restaurants that gave discounts when you paid with their debit card.

Discover Card provides it's card holders the ability to down load your statements to financial software, making tax time easier.

Some cards offer cash back that can be used at some vendors with discounts. Or the cash back can be applied to the current statement.

Charge, debit, bank and check cards usually have a "0" fraud loss policy. Checking accounts may not.

They just don't allow anyone to accept charge cards. A part of the merchant approval policy, a credit check is included.

With all this said, I will continue to take payment in all forms as I have in the past; check, cash and plastic. However charge, debit, bank and check cards will be my preferred choice of payment.