On the 21st of February 2008 we contacted O'Brien Glass at Geebung to enquire about getting a new windscreen fitted to our 1965 Datsun Fairlady. They were able to locate a new windscreen and the car was booked in to have it installed on the 27th of February 2008. At the time we let them know that the car had a separate windscreen frame, and that the frame on these cars has to be removed to install the new glass. They acknowledged this fact at the time the car was booked in.

On the 27th of February 2008, at 9am, we dropped the car off at O'Brien Glass at Geebung. When we dropped the car off I asked the installer to come out to the car, where I explained to him where the four bolts and two nuts were located that would need to be undone to remove the frame. He acknowledged that he understood where the bolts and nuts were, and we left the car with him.

Six hours later we still had yet to hear from them, so we went back to see how they were going. We found the car parked out the front and decided to have a look at the windscreen before going inside. One side of the windscreen frame was reassembled in an acceptable fashion, but the other side there was a huge gap where the base and the side of the frame were supposed to meet. This gap was large enough that it caused the windscreen frame to protrude so far into the door opening that it chipped paint off the inside of the door.

We went inside and mentioned to the person behind the counter that there was a problem with the workmanship that would need to be fixed. He then went in and got the installer and we went out to the car, where I pointed out the problem. As soon as I pointed out the problem he turned into a ranting psychopath, yelling at me trying to say that the frame wouldn't go back together because it was buckled when it arrived there in the morning, which was a lie. (We have close up photos of that side of the windscreen frame that were taken by a professional photographer at a recent car show to prove it) He then grabbed the quarter glass of the car, which has a screw loose (a bit like this guy) and proceeded to violently shake the quarter glass while yelling out "the whole car is shit". I then asked to see his boss. We went inside while he then continued to be offensive and to hurl abuse at me.

Then the manager came out and I proceeded to show him the problem area, and then he started trying to say the car was that way when it arrived in the morning. Then the installer with the bad case of "small man syndrome" came out and continued ranting. I pointed out that I, a complete amateur when it comes to installing windscreens, managed to install the last windscreen myself, at home, and it went together perfectly for me, and that I would expect that an alleged professional should be able to to the same. All this time no one would let me speak while I tried to explain what the problem was, all the while the installer continued to be abusive. By now I had had enough and I snapped and called this idiot an unsavoury name, at which point this sad excuse for a human being physically assaulted me, digging his fingers into my chest. Most disturbing of all was the fact that the manager just stood there and watched while he did it. I then pointed out that he assaulted me and threatened to call the police, at which point the installer slinked away inside, while the manager then argued that it wasn't really assault. (I have a bruise on my chest, it certainly felt that way when this idiot of epic proportions was gouging his finger into my chest)

As I tried to show the manager the problem area he refused to listen to what I was saying. I pointed out where the paint had been chipped off. He then said that it was an old chip, and that he could see rust inside the chipped area. I pointed out that the car has red oxide primer under the paint and that was what he was looking at. I then tried to show him the large chips of blue paint that were laying on the carpet directly under where the frame bolts onto the body, but he refused to even look in that direction, instead continuing to try to say that the frame was damaged when the car came in. I then pointed out that there were broken off screw heads laying on the carpet, and that they had come from the frame, where there were visibly holes with snapped off screws in them. Again he refused to even look in the direction I was pointing.

While all this was happening he then let slip the fact that they installed the windscreen into the car without removing the frame from the car. When quizzed on how you could possible do this, he said that they had unbolted the side bolts and had bent the frame outwards, then pushed the new screen into place and tried to screw it back together. Suddenly it all made sense why the frame would no longer meet properly. The screen on a 1965 Fairlady is 126cm wide at the bottom, and 107cm wide at the top. This meant that to get the screen into place this rocket scientist thought it would be a good idea to bend the frame outwards 19cm to get enough width for the base of the glass to clear the top of the frame, and then try to hobble it back together again. He bent it with such force that it snapped the head of two of the screws off, which were found laying on the carpet. The screen frame now no longer meets at the base because the L shaped bracket inside the frame has been bent out of shape. Even more disturbing is the fact that the manager said that they had done several Fairladys in the past, and admitted that they had used this appalling, shonky, lazy method on other people's cars in the past.

So, to sum it all up in point form.

- We went out of our way to explain the procedure to fit the screen, O'Brien Glass deliberately ignored the instructions given to them.

- O'Brien Glass knowingly installed the glass in a reckless short cut manner that was obviously far removed from the correct method.

- O'Brien Glass damaged the frame by bending it a full 19cm outward to install the glass. (The frame has a tolerance of less than 1/2mm where the base meets the side bar of the frame)

- The vehicle was presented to us by O'Brien Glass with two screws snapped off inside the frame.

- O'Brien Glass returned the vehicle with obviously fresh damage to the paintwork.

- O'Brien Glass failed to apply any windscreen sealant to the vehicle. This is not an exaggeration, ABSOLUTELY NO SEALANT WAS USED AT ALL ! Water literally pours through the seal in the rain.

- After O'Brien Glass installed the glass, the windscreen rubber now no longer meets at the corners, where there is a gaping great gap.

- O'Brien Glass took a full six hours to complete what was in the end a disastrous bodge job.

- We were verbally abused, insulted and humiliated by an employee of O'Brien Glass.

- I was physically assaulted by an employee of O'Brien Glass.

- The manager of O'Brien Glass at Geebung watched as his employee physically assaulted me, and then refused to acknowledge that anything had happened.

- The manager of O'Brien Glass at Geebung allowed the verbal and physical abuse of a customer by a staff member to take place in front of his own business, in the full view of the general public and his own customers.

- The manager of O'Brien Glass at Geebung, by his action (or lack of, as the case may be) indicates that the above is considered to be an example of an acceptable business practice within his organisation.

- The person employed by O'Brien Glass refused to accept responsibility for the damage caused by his own shonky workmanship.

- The manager of O'Brien Glass at Geebung refused to accept responsibility for the the damage caused by his own employee, and signalled that he accepts that the poor workmanship of his employee is considered by him to be of an acceptable quality.

O'Brien Glass is a long established and reasonably reputable company, and I do not for one minute suggest that this is the kind of treatment one can expect at any of their other branches. But clearly there are some major issues at O'Brien Glass at Geebung, where we were treated in a manner that could only be described as being morally and ethically corrupt. 
At the time of writing, the state manager for O'Brien Glass appears to be trying to rectify the problem, and the vehicle is now booked into another O'Brien Glass branch to see if they can rectify the damage, and install the glass properly. A future post will indicate whether O'Brien Glass as a company are willing to rectify the situation caused by their Geebung branch, or whether the attitude at Geebung is company wide.