[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][B]I have a problem,[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]One of my store front window customers has decals on their glass. The customer wants it off. Normally I would pull out my trusty 6 inch razor and have at.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]BUT there is fabricating debris on the window.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]What would you do?[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[B][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Fabricating Debris presents a problem when a customer wants too.[/FONT][/COLOR][/B]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Have their tinting removed.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Put tint on their windows. (They should be told it can NEVER be safely removed.)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Put up a decal sign in the window. (How can it be taken down without ruining the glass?)[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Use packing tape to put their signs on the door. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I’m thinking about carrying desolvit in a small bottle in my pouch.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]What is your experience with Decal, Tint, Painted Sign and Tape Residue removal on tempered glass?
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The fab debris with a window that is tinted has more than likely already scratched the glass as an installer scrapes every inch prior to putting the film on.
You should still get a waiver signed, then I would use a 1" razor and remove the sticker cautiously scraping only one direction keeping the glass wet.
Inform the customer what is going on so that they know you might scratch the glass.
How did you know this piece of glass has Fab Debris?
Here’s my deal. I get a waiver signed and out comes the razor. I didn’t manufacture the defect and am not about to accept responsibility for it.
This is a point that for the most part gets un-noticed.
Most people would associate fab. Debris with CCU - when in actuallity, the glass is defective over it’s entire “life”.
Bottom line is the customer buying the glass is being ripped off by buying a lemon.
I would say your best bet is to get a waiver signed after explaining the fab. Debris issue.
I tested it with a small razor and could hear that sound we all love, click click click.
But Tony, what if the customer doesn’t want their store front windows scratched to smithereens?
See this is where I draw the line. The waiver is for your protection but this mentality is not ethical. Mike says he knows fab debris exists, we as professionals have an obligation to be that and explain to the customer what may happen. I think we also have the obligation not to scratch this customers glass and this very fact was proven in a court of law in California.
If the lady understood what may occur and she wants you to proceed then get a waiver signed and try it. But a waiver is not a license to just go at it and trash the glass.
and now the waiver nazi’s will begin…
I’m pro waiver but not a nazi! I also have ethics! I think the manufacturers of this garbage glass have no ethics. I don’t offer alternative cleaning options. Also I’m not scratching the glass. The defect is! Tell the customer the glass is beyond help and should be replaced. If they don’t want to do that walk away. At this point they (if they have been educated) could decide to come after you for any scratches already present. What then?
Just wet that decal with a sponge - do the other windows first, but keep going back to it and wetting it & peeling what you can with the fingernail & re-wetting it. Patience is the key. Then use oil-flow, wd40, goo-gone, scrim or whatever your preference to get the goo off. Charge well & get waivered if you have to resort to using your smallest razor on it.
I knew this would get you going Tony. I agree with the manufacturer’s not having ethics, so we in turn should not have any either? So two wrongs make a right?
You are preaching to the choir about what is scratching the glass. But a simple graphic on the window and its scratch it or replace it? This extreme attitude is not the customer service I want to provide.
The problem Mike is we are dealing w/ an extreme situation. How would you remove tint from the window in this scenario? The excessive amounts of chemicals you’d need to use to remove tint w/out a scraper would be unsafe for both you and the environment. For a simple graphic why not use what GANA says - a 1.5" razor blade?
With Tint I wouldn’t worry about it. Because it has already been scratched, you have to scrap every inch of glass to place tint on correctly. So whats done is done. Get a waiver signed and do it.
You could use a razor 1.5", the problem is Mike said he knows debris exists. My point is at that point it is not right just to get a waiver signed and scratch away. You need to explain the situation to the customer get a waiver signed and then begin. However, if alternative methods exist and you dont offer them are you really being the professional?
Or are you just trying to basically make a political statement? Personally, at this point this isnt a GANA vs Window Cleaning Industry. This scenario is my relationship with my customer. My customer doesnt give two cents about our industry issue but he/she does expect me to be ethical and have their best interests in mind as the professional they hired.
I always educate the customer before getting the waiver signed. If you assume the window w/ tint is already trashed I think it’s safe to assume an old storefront window is in the same condition.
I don’t offer “alternatives” for more than a political reason. It’s health and environment that are my main concerns. I think it’s unethical to use unnecessary and dangerous chemicals to protect someone from the harsh reality they have a defective product. That’s not professional to me.
I think I should point out that although I doubt Mike and I will ever see eye to eye on this issue, I have the utmost respect for him as a window cleaner and businessman.
I haven’t taken anything personal in this thread and too have great respect for Tony.
Tony I do apologize as I was leading you down this path for a reason. What if the alternative was a heat gun?
See I believe in the waiver as much as you do Tony and think we have to stand fast as an industry. However, I will never allow the politics of this thing to allow me not to see appropriate methods for dealing with my customers in an accomodating way.
I am not saying you would personally, however many of us are so blinded by the rhetoric that we forget the obvious.
I would schedule a time with the owner to sit down and carefully explain what is most like going to happen & why it will happen. Have a full packet with you and don’t rush through it, go through and explain everything to them. Tell them you are willing to do it but you wanted to be up frony with them first. There are some FD packet in the download section here. I would even go to the window and explain to them how you know FD is present in their glass.
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]The statement Mike makes here is really the route of my problem. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]The decal I’m talking about is store front lettering, not something like an alarm system sticker. One of the Doctors has left the practice and they want the name removed from their list of doctors. So I’m trying to figure out how to say, OK instead of the incorrect name you would prefer 20 scratch marks on your really nice glass, right? :o I hate arguing with a customer. They just want their lettering removed. Anyway I asked them to look at my web site and read the part on razor blade scraping. I said I’d get back to them. 
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They probably won’t understand the importance of reading the information on your website until you explain everything… which somewhat defeats the purpose of them going to your website.
I’d explain everything to them in person. Explain that you have a waiver signed when doing this kind of work to protect you should the glass prove to be defective.
There’s possible options should the glass prove to be defective too, something to cover the scratchs like a new sign.
Or, maybe a blank sheet of vinyl could cover the doctors name, and then some other information written on that “block” of vinyl to make it look like it’s supposed to be that way. A scraper would not be needed if that was done.
It’s sad the customer can’t use they glass the way they want too. It’s almost like having a BMW that you can’t drive.
A heat gun, you say. As long as you didn’t try it in the winter, sure. In the winter I’d worry about the drastic thermal change shattering the window.
Of course now you need access to an outlet and some safety cones to keep someone from tripping over the extension cord and suing you into the Dark Ages. 
