Windscreen replacement

I would like to express my extreme disappointment and disgust with the treatment that I have received at the hands of MiWay’s service provider Maximum Glass. The owner of the company, Mr Makena, managed to make something as simple as changing a car’s windscreen a terrible experience.

• In December 2024 my wife Cathryn Babachev (policy holder) registered a claim for windscreen replacement on my Kia Sorrento. • MiWay advised that Maximum Glass will be contacting me. A week later no one had contacted me and the claim was moved to PG Glass. • I went to PG Glass Boksburg on 30 December 2024 for the replacement. The technician cracked the new windscreen while handling it so it could not be replaced because they didn’t have a spare. • This cost me half a day of no pay as I had to take off from work. • I then requested that a mobile unit is sent when the new windscreen is sourced. • On 09 January 2025, I was contacted by Maximum Glass again saying that they would like to come replace my windscreen. I took another day off work with no pay and waited for them. They arrived with the wrong windscreen. • On 13 January they informed me that they have sourced a new windscreen. • On 16 January 2025 they arrived with the new windscreen which was not safely secured during transport so I requested that it is inspected for any cracks or scratches before installation. I lost another day of pay from work in order to accommodate them. • The windscreen that was supp**** and installed is not from the OEM (Kia) nor does it have the ShatterPrufe logo (although it says it is SABS approved). I am not sure why this unknown brand of windscreen manufacturer was sourced and I would like to be re-assured that my car is safe to drive with this windscreen. • After it was installed and their team left I noticed that my rear view mirror is not secure and is vibrating and tilting while the car is moving. My e-tag fell off by itself within 20 minutes and my license disc was not re-installed. I recorded a video of everything mentioned. • I then contacted Mr Makena and told him that I cannot pay the excess for a job that is incomplete and that his team can come back the same day to fix the issue as the car is not safe or legal to drive. • He didn’t send his team that day and told me that he will not send his team unless I pay the excess first. After the three failed attempts from Maximum Glass to replace my windscreen correctly, I was reluctant to pay for an incomplete job. • He also accused me of disrespecting him, his team and black people as a whole. This is a point I am particularly disgusted with as it is completely false. I have a WhatsApp voice message from his team that says I did not disrespect anyone. I have also kept our entire WhatsApp conversation for anyone interested. • He then proceeded to threaten me with calling the police and accused me of committing ***** for not paying the excess. He also said that MiWay advised him to do this (which I really hope is untrue). If that is the case, I will cancel any and all policies I have with MiWay with immediate effect. • I felt unsafe and threatened by this person, so I proceeded to pay him for the incomplete job with the hope that he will send his team to fix the errors. • His team arrived today and spent 5 seconds tightening a ***** on the rear view mirror which stopped the vibrations, while I had already mounted the e-tag and license disc by myself. Up to this point my car was not safe or legal to drive and I lost another day of pay because of this.

To summarise the above: I had to go with close to four days without pay and feel threatened and unsafe because of MiWay and their service providers for something as simple as replacing a car’s windscreen.

My wife (the policy holder) has spoken to MiWay a few times without receiving any assistance, and no one has contacted me to see what the issue is.

It seems MiWay protects its service providers while ignoring its clients!

We have been paying MiWay the fully required insurance premiums every month for over two years. Due to this experience and unless someone from MiWay contacts me to resolve the issue, I will be cancelling all my family’s policies with MiWay as soon as we have sourced an acceptable quote from another insurer.