Floating/Gypsy Tinters
These are tinters who usually stay in the area from one to three years, while working out of the trunk of their car or the back of their truck with no store front, license or insurance. Their business model is to offer very low installation rates because they don’t pay for insurance or taxes and use very poor quality, cheap window films usually imported from China. They may offer bogus “lifetime” warranties that they never intend to honor when the product starts to turn purple, bubble and peel off. They will just move on to the next town and change their phone number.
Always check with the Better Business Bureau about a company you are considering. You can also do a separate search at the BBB on the business owner’s name as well. This will show other businesses, past or present, that they own, as well as their track record. Even if a company is not a member of the BBB, a legitimate business will have a company profile showing how long they have been in business, locations and any complaints against them.
Outdoor/Mobile Car Tinting
Window tinting must be done indoors in a controlled environment! Window film is like a static charged, sticky magnet for dust and dirt. When installing window film outdoors you run the risk of the breeze blowing dust, dirt, pollen, bugs and other airborne debris into the film. We have large, air-conditioned and clean automotive tinting bays at our offices to insure a proper job no matter what the weather is outside. You will find many tinters offering the “convenience” of mobile tinting, when it is just a cover for a trunk operator who can’t afford a business location to do a proper job.
Poor Quality Tint
Beware of the tint company that will not happily leave film samples with you or rejects a request to install a test sample on one window! They are well aware of the poor quality and bad optical clarity of their product and its inability to stand up to your close scrutiny. For free no-obligation film samples click here.
Fabricated Performance Results
Beware of tint companies providing hand-cut tint swatches with unverified performance data written in magic marker or printed on home made computer labels! Reputable tinters provide film samples inside of performance specification cards that are made by the manufacturer.
Reputable window films will be “NFRC Certified”. The National Fenestration Rating Counsel administers uniform, independent rating and labeling of energy performance products insuring the consumer gets what they are paying for. This certification is available to all manufacturers, foreign and domestic, and will have their data posted at the NFRC web site. If a window film manufacturer opts out of this process, one can only wonder what they have to hide.
No Ultra Violet Protection
One way to cut costs in window film manufacturing is to leave out the ultra violet inhibitor! The inhibitor is clear and UV is invisible, so how will you know without a UV meter? Faded flooring and furnishings is an expensive way to find out a film manufacturer cut corners. Reputable film manufacturers always use UV inhibitors and clearly mark their UV rejection on their web sites and specification cards.
Automotive Film vs. Architectural Film
Beware of tint companies wanting to install automotive film in your home or business! Automotive film is not engineered to last as long or perform as well as architectural film, and therefore costs much less. Automotive film is not covered by a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty when installed in non-automotive applications. A strong and reputable company will have full lines of both architectural and automotive films in stock.
Only two film choices?
Beware of a film company aggressively offering only a couple of film choices! These are possibly the only films they can afford to keep on the shelf and may not be the best choice for your application. A typical residential installation will use two to four different film types depending on sun exposure and viewing options. Suntamers stocks over 50 different types of films from two manufactures and is sure to meet your specific needs.
