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I left work early on Friday to check out the tint shops(Executive and Formula One).
Executive: When I arrived I asked for Brandon and he was not in on Friday so spoke to another guy there(shorter hispanic guy w/ glasses). He came out and checked out my car and I asked him what is his best price and he asked me, "What did Brandon quote" you. Right there I got a funny feeling that this guy was going to take me for a ride so I played along and he said that the tint nomrally goes for $499. Also he told me it would take 3 hours or so to do the job which to me seems exteremly long ... either the guys in the back are amateurs and don't know what they are doing. So I asked him why so long and he stated that the Huper is a thicker tint and requires more time to apply - why would I want to put thick tint on my car??? He did tell me they would do laser cutting to ensure it fit perfectly to the window at no additional cost but I'm sure it was built in this $499 quote. I saw a vehicle with the tint I wanted and it had a greenish hue to it ... not impressive. I also asked if I could check out his install bay which I did ... not impressive at all. The install bay was not fully enclosed and the guys were working while the bay door was open - easily more room for contamination when applying the film. Overall, not impressed with the install bay, place seemed they do sub-par quality work, and the pricing seem a bit sketchy.
Formula One: When I got there the office was nice and tidy and I went into the install bay and asked for John. Come to find out John is one of the installers there and basically runs the store as well. Install bay was fully enclosed and bay doors where closed as well. I asked him about Huper and he smirked and basically stated that Huper is mainly used for commerical property and not on vehicles. He knows the guys at Executive and stated they have a high turn-over on installers so basically the guys there installing are amateurs. His install time was only 1 hr but the issue I have with Formula One is the price ($450 quote)... I looked online for all authorized dealers in Texas and called 2 of them up that are located in Austin and they quoted me $349 installed. I asked John why he was so much higher and told me his retail cost is higher then Austin - come on now, seems bit un-real but I might be mistaken. I haggled a little more and he came down to $400 - still $50 bucks higher. I also asked if he had any vehicles with the blk tint I wanted and said on Saturday he would have plenty guys coming in to install it and would call me - never recieved the phone call. Overall, clean workshop floor, John seemed more up and up and knowledgeable but the price difference for the same tint bothers me a bit.
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