News: Arizona Unlawful Practices: Glass Auto Repair Bill Passed The House Unanimously

News: Arizona Unlawful Practices: Glass Auto Repair Bill Passed The House Unanimously

December 12, 2019 Arizona Auto Glass News 0

AZ Auto Glass NewsThe Arizona House of Representatives was packed with glass company owners both small and large, the Arizona Auto Glass Association (members and president – AGRR), and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. The bill comes on the heels of the insurance industry and various other organizations fighting back against auto glass fraud which is perceived to be a huge problem in Arizona, with the cost ultimately hitting the consumer.

The vote on the HB 2500, Unlawful Practices: Glass Auto Repair was unanimous in the Arizona House of Representatives.

The discussion was heated as speakers on both sides expressed their opinions, which included all the points that we discuss here on AutoGlassSecretes.com. One side believes insurance companies and larger companies like Safelite are trying take control the industry. While the the insurance companies are saying we are fed up and have had enough, we are losing too much money and we are going to police the industry. Reminds us of an interview with a glass operator when they commented “We are just following the rules of the insurance company, so they need to have the systems in place to police the industry.” It appears the insurance companies agree.

Here is a recent story of an experience with an aggressive glass sales representative visiting an insurance agency. If we told you the company name, you would be surprised. A young glass sales representative from a company came in to an insurance office recently, ignoring the “No Soliciting” sign on the door and aggressively started offering $50 to the customer service representative in the lobby for glass referrals and explaining how the customer service representative could make a lot of extra money. When the agent confronted the glass sales representative, they continued to try and sell the agent for referrals! You have to give them credit for trying, but as a business owner, the agent was frustrated that someone would come into their business, waste their employees time, and not even ask qualifying questions if it was an acceptable practice in the agency! The agent commented that they are now videotaping the lobby and will be happy to share any future recordings with our visitors.

So what’s next? The House will most likely make changes to the bill, and then review and approve it. From there it is off to the Senate for review.

If the bill passes, who really suffers in the end? Honest glass operators will have to take a close look at their marketing and in free economy, does it make sense to tell someone how to spend their marketing dollars. Insurance companies will continue to invest more money into monitoring fraud, and the consumer gets to experience potential glass inspections.

For a great reference on what has led up and comments from the glass industry to the bill, see Jenna Reed’s article at glassBYTES.com (We love your articles and insight).

Read the HB 2500 bill here

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