Tint bubbles

[ICU812]

Get over myself? Because you are lazy intellectually and run your mouth?

Yeah, I will get right over myself, as I am a troll.

Right.
Whatever you say.

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[Striker22]

I went through this same issue and learned a lot in the process. My Mustang at the time already had the sides, fins, and back window tinted when I bought it and I always thought it looked really good. I wanted to get my windshield tinted so I took it to a shop that was reasonably priced and had good online reviews. I could see within a day or two the bubbles that look just like yours, primarily in the corners. I took it back and they said it needed to be redone. It was slightly better the second time but there were still several spots like yours and an ever larger spot where they didn't get all of the adhesive off from the first tint.

I took pictures of it and spent the next two weeks talking to as many different tint shops in the area as I could and reading every thread I could on the tintdude forum. I even took it by several of them to let them see it in person. Here was what I learned:

- Those spots you see aren't just air bubbles; they all have tiny pieces of debris under them that keeps the film from laying flat against the glass. These are usually most prevalent at the corners because that is where they handle the pieces of tint and work their way from the middle out. Nothing you can do for these unfortunately. Some of the air can be pushed out slightly but you can still see them.

- It is almost impossible to get a perfect tint job with no imperfections on a bigger piece of glass like a back window or windshield. This was hard for me as I am pretty OCD about this kind of stuff but every respected installer I talked to or read info from said there are just too many variables to be able to get things absolutely perfect. They did say side windows and fins are much easier to minimize issues.

- The larger the piece of glass, the more imperfections there will be. I would expect the back window to have a few but the fins and side windows should have very few imperfections.

- After hearing this, I looked at the current tint on my car, which I always thought was perfect and found a few debris bubbles in each window that was tinted that I had never noticed before. I think it is because you normally are always looking through a window but when you get them tinted you are looking AT the window at a close distance to examine the work done. I also started looking at other people's cars with tint that I knew or in a parking lot and was able to find spots on each one as well when I looked close enough.

- There is an industry standard for what is deemed "acceptable" in terms of number and size of spots in a given area that can be seen from 3-5 feet away. It's all pretty subjective though depending on what you are expecting.

I took my car back a third time and we just agreed we weren't going to match up on it. No hard feelings and they removed the tint and gave me my money back. I did more research and found a higher end shop that was more expensive but did a lot of high end cars. I also went with a better quality tint as well (Xpel XR Plus). The windshield was night and day difference. I only found a few very tiny spots in the corners that I really had to look hard for. I had them do my side windows as well and they were both almost perfect. If the current shop ends up taking off the tint and you take it somewhere else, make sure you mention that the windows were tinted before so they can prep it correctly and make sure the old adhesive is removed. Hope this helps. I know it drove me nuts for quite a while trying to get it right. For me, it ended up being a combination of finding a better installer and slightly lowering my expectations based on what I learned.

 

[Cobra Jet]

If it were me, I'd be asking to speak to the Shop Ownwr, after all it's his/her reputation on the line.

What do their online reviews look like (if any), or are they inflated with fake "thumbs ups" and positive reviews?

 

[Soulja4187]

If you paid with a credit card file a dispute and show the credit card company to the pictures. You can also ask the shop to remove the tints and give you your money back. I would never let them try again if all windows had this many issues, you are looking for them to cut your trims, seals, moldings or paint.

 

[velocityblue5.0]

Only problem with having them remove it means going back another 50 miles, or one hour, south and sit there for hours while they do it…which i frankly dont have time to do, since i was on vacation last week when i did it, and I work a ton of overtime. So if anything I’m going to write to them after the 7 days is up since the last one and see if they’ll work anything out. They weren’t cheap either. They charged 275 plus tax which is ridiculous but from their good reviews I figured I’d get quality work. Clearly I got trash. I will tell them that I would like somewhat of a refund because I will now have to bring it to another shop, which Ill do closer to me this time, and have them take it off or redo it.

 

[Longitude Zero]

guys, need some help. so i just went to a place and got a tint. guy told me wait 5 days for it to fully cure before i wash windows or anything, so i said okay. it had a ton of bubbles, but they should go away within the 5 days too. seems there’s still a good amount left 3 days in though, and this is supposed to be a pretty good reputable shop. check out my pics and give me your guys thoughts. i already emailed the guy about it and am awaiting his reply. i really wonder if these remaining will go away, or if they’re just from a bad job. my last mustang was perfect. didn’t have a single bubble in the 7 years i had it, and cost significantly less, so i’m a tad annoyed.

Monster oops. Needs to be repaired or replaced.

 

[Bikeman315]

Monster oops. Needs to be repaired or replaced.

You're way behind. He already had it redone.

 

[velocityblue5.0]

You're way behind. He already had it redone.

And it’s still shit.

 

[CCII]

yeah i’m not touching shit lol i’m going to call. i just called and was put on hold for 20 min so i hung up. google says this is their busiest time right now and they were busy when i was there. just a bit annoyed right now bc their tint reviews say the job was so good blah blah blah i’m just annoyed bc it’s an hour away

So disappointing. Sadly this is what makes us appreciate quality work when it is done right the first time.

 

[velocityblue5.0]

So the place is doing right by me and offering a refund. They offered to make it right with a refund and redo the tint but I just don’t have time to bring it an hour away again, as I have no more vacation time coming up, and I work long hours. So I will take the refund, so I’m glad they were able to work with me on it. Oh well. At some point I will have to bring it to a shop by me to have it removed and put a new one on.

 

[K4fxd]

Like I said earlier I can't even clean my rear window. To tint it I'd have to remove it.

Glad they took care of you in the end.

 

[food_fanaticz]

So the place is doing right by me and offering a refund. They offered to make it right with a refund and redo the tint but I just don’t have time to bring it an hour away again, as I have no more vacation time coming up, and I work long hours. So I will take the refund, so I’m glad they were able to work with me on it. Oh well. At some point I will have to bring it to a shop by me to have it removed and put a new one on.

Sorry this happened to you, at least you got a refund. I'm getting everything done next week, including tints...going to be without the car for 3 days. I'm pretty OCD lol I hope it's as perfect as it can be

 

[velocityblue5.0]

Saga continues…so they did the refund..showed up as pending credit for 2 days, then completely disappeared and is just gone now on my card. So I called citi and they claim they opened an investigation to look into it and I will get a conditional credit back. I told them I’m not trying to do a chargeback or anything, I just want them to tell me why the credit disappeared. So i guess an investigation is doing that, bc the girl on the phone said she sees no credit ever applied. I told her I have a receipt and everything. So i have no idea wtf they’re doing now. So I wrote to the guy from the place and explained to him that citi is doing an investigation just so he has a heads up. But seriously wtf. Nothing ever seems to just go right.

 

[Gnatsum21]

Sorry man. What a cluster f*ck..

 

[EmCel]

That sucks. What a headache indeed. Especially where you had to drive an hour away. Hey, if the tint is not that bad with the bubbles just keep it instead of wasting more money to get it removed and redoing it. Not like people are gonna notice it.

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