Lone Star Glass & Aluminum

The day after Christmas there was an attempted burglary at my home that resulted in a broken window. I called out a window replacement company that is owned by someone I know but they only do full window replacements and they do not normally do glass installation. Overnight it occurred to me that rather than do an entire window replacement I could simply have the pane replaced that was broken so I called Lone Star Glass & Aluminum after finding them in a Google search. The woman who answered the phone had a very flat affect and did not seem very friendly, in fact I she came across as annoyed. She told me they couldn't get anyone out until the next Tuesday, as Monday New Years Day, then asked me what size the glass was that needed replacing. I gave her the dimensions and she paused then let me know it would be $180 for that piece of glass to be installed. I told her that it had to be replaced as soon as possible, and if the following Tuesday was the soonest they could come then I guess that would have to work. Later that same afternoon, the earlier mentioned full window replacement guy came by to give me a quote to fully replace the entire window grouping, and he also said he could likely send someone by earlier to replace the glass if I went and bought the pane, the plastic trim, and had everything ready for their person. Since the temperatures were going to be below freezing for the following few days I said yes please come and install it, and went to buy the glass, which cost me about $60. As rotten luck would have it, they weren't able to come fix it after I bought the glass, so I just held on to it until Tuesday when Lone Star had said they could come out. On Tuesday morning (the first day they were open since I bought the glass) I phoned Lone Star and spoke to the same woman with whom I had originally scheduled my appointment. I told her I had a friend who had offered to install the glass if I purchased it but that it didn't pan out and asked if they would have any issue with installing the glass that I had purchased. She said that she thought that would be fine and took down my phone number.

When the workman from Lone Star came to install the glass he was very pleasant, and he got right to work. In less than 20 minutes he had the broken glass out, the new glass in, and the work looked good. He told me he'd come back in a couple of days to scrape off the residual putty after it dried. No problem up to here, but then he gives me the bill...$180. To say I was surprised there was no discount for me supplying the glass and plastic bead would be the understatement of the century. I was not expecting a lot, but figured that $50 off wouldn't be unreasonable since Lone Star saved time on labor (they didn't have to measure and cut the glass on-site), and they had zero material costs except for some glass putty. I asked him about it and he told me that the glass only cost about $10 when they install it - I'm thinking "So give me $10 bucks off" but I didn't say anything to him; I decided instead to call the office after he leaves.

When I called, I again get the same woman I spoke to the previous two times I called in. I told her that I was unhappy that there was no discount for providing materials and she offers several items:

1.) She says she thought they were doing me a favor by using my materials, says most companies won't do that.
2.) Says that the amount of glass they used was worth about $5. (I have no way of knowing who's telling the truth about that but I've now been told $10, then $5 for the cost of the glass installed).
3.) Says they can't send a workman and a truck out for less than their minimum charge
4.) Abruptly asks me how I want to pay for the service, which I thought was exceptionally rude of her when I'm presenting a complaint. I told her I had already given the workman a check.

For kicks, let's say that the monthly expense to operate the work truck the man was driving is $700, and let's assume he makes $30/hr including benefits. Let's further assume he does 8 glass installations per day which are only at the minimum charge of $180. Assuming 20 work days per month, the truck costs $35/day to operate which means that if he had spent a full hour at my house the cost would have been $65 in hard costs to the business to have him here. He was here for about 30 minutes but let's disregard that use round numbers: 180-65=$115 profit. So service call profit is around $105 per call after labor, or $16,000/mo. They aren't exactly losing money as the woman would have you believe in her third point above.

I am appreciative that they installed my glass because it would have been a waste for them to not have used it, but I think it's unfair to expect me to pay the same amount when I actually saved them money by getting their guy to his next job faster.

Bottom line: Great installer and workmanship, terrible customer service.

Tim and his team took very good care of me on an unusually difficult project. I would recommend Tim to others for their glass needs, whether commercial (what he typically does) or residential (what he did for me). He is a true professional who wants to make you happy.

I needed glass and a window replaced- they sent someone out on a Saturday for a quote. Not only did he quote me, but he was able to replace the window immediately. Everyone I spoke with was polite and eager to help. I highly recommend this company and will definitely use them in the future!