I was shopping to get my Audi A4's windows tinted just after I bought it. The car was used but appeared to have no tint already and it needed it bad. I shopped around and ended up liking All Shade in Corona, CA because of the owners customer service. I asked a few questions about the difference in his two tint films he carried and told him a concern was interference with the radio, tire pressure gauge senders, etc... He assured me that the QDP was fine for that and there was no need to go for the 3M if that was my only concern.

I dropped my car off to him the next day and had a deadline because I was leaving for vacation, he assured me that the deadline wasnt a problem. He met the deadline, later than he anticipated because the car did have tint that needed to be stripped first. He said he took care of this no problem and I was good to go. I took the car home, garaged it and left on vacation.

My first morning driving to work after I got home required the use of the rear defroster. Once I turned this on the radio went to pure static. I took my car to the dealership that day and they explained that the window tint was the culprit and the entire back window needed to be replaced. I asked if anything was damaged and they said no but explained that the window tint causes a short of the defrosting wires in the window. I thought replacing the window was a little rediculous because all we needed to do was replace the film with film that wouldnt cause this issue.

After a week or two I was able to go back to All Shade and talk to the owners brother about my issue. He said, "no problem let me call my brother", the owner. They decided they would fix the issue by replacing the film on only the back window with the 3M, for $240. I only paid $180 for the entire car the first time. I said this was unacceptable and presented the solution that they swap the film on the rear window only free of labor fees but I will gladly pay for the difference in film cost. I felt this was reasonable since I specifically addressed this issue beforehand. Needless to say this didnt happen and they want to charge me basically double to repair an issue that was addressed before hand. So I registered a BBB complaint and highly recommend you stay away from this place because they do not stand behind their work and do not have the customers best interest in mind.

 

First the customer and I came to an agreement the same day he filed this complaint. Plus if you go to Audi's Forums.com and in the search box type Defroster you will see antenna radio here you Will see that it is a common problem with Audi.
Customer said" the tint caused interference to his radio, the only problem with that claim is that the film I put on is Global Window Films their Quick Dry Plus film it is their top of the line film, and this is what they say on their web site www.globalwindowfilms.com" As the name states, these non-reflective charcoal films offer extremely quick dry times for faster installations, to assure immediate customer satisfaction - especially in colder climate conditions. Our non-metalized Quick Dry films are the perfect solution for cars with embedded antennas, cellular and G.P.S systems. Quick Dry Plus is a slightly thicker film than Quick Dry. Both films are backed by our strong warranty and are available in a full range of options.

Customer also talked to my Rep. at Global window Films and was told the same thing I told him, plus they informed him that the Q.D.P film (their top of the line non-metalized film is the only film I buy from them. This conversation happened on a tint forum so everything the customer said and Rep. said is in writing on Internet.
Customer has not called me back to do any work on his car, I assume because he found out it is a common problem with Audi. Plus it would not make any sense that his radio does work and his defroster does work just not together. If i did put a metal film on it would not mess with his defroster, and his radio would not work at all, with or without his defroster being on. Customer did not do research first about this problem but was very quick to blame me, he posted on Audi's forum.com to stay away from all shade glass tinting in corona, if he would have used that same forum to search out his problem he would have seen that a lot of Audi owners complain about that same problem and they have no tint on them, it is a problem that Audi is aware about but failed to tell the customer. If you have any more questions you Know how to reach me.

 

Alright i've seen this sort of thing before. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if your defroster causes issues with your radio ITS NOT THE TINT. Mine actually does this on occasion and i have no tint. It's a grounding issue. If one of the lines in the window was damaged during tinting... i could see that, but even then the window would not need replacement. It sounds like you met one of cali's infamous screwyou dealerships. I lived out there for sometime, and they are all too common. They saw you as a dollar sign. You should be happy that allshade didn't charge you extra for the factory tint removal as most places charge for that. I do think that maybe allshade should have been willing to at least discuss a deal about swapping tint but at the same time, that tint is non mettalic, so it would have had 0 affect on the signal or defroster. I hate seeing customers who just assume they are right and that you can trust a dealership. After all they are a business that survives off getting people to buy something they don't need... or that "extra" package. I suggest you take your car to an audio shop, if your in the oceanside area i can send you to my guy that did ALL my work when i lived there, he can tell you if the tint had anything to do with the radio... he specialized in the non interference tint and custom audio. I bet i can get him to check it out free. The non interference tint is about radio waves... so if it's fine with the defroster off... IT IS THE DEFROSTER NOT THE TINT.

 

I have not tried All Shade in Corona, CA , but i would like to thank you for sharing such helpful info.

Corona CA Locksmith

 

Shame on you. Beware of All SHADE!!