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Glass and auto companies experience influx in demand following Colorado hailstorm: "Devastating"

Glass company CEO reacts to big hailstorm that left his phone ringing next morning
Glass company CEO reacts to big hailstorm that left his phone ringing next morning 02:19

Across the Denver metro area, residents and businesses were dealing with the aftermath of Thursday night's widespread and damaging hailstorm.

"It's devastating that something like this actually happened that big," said Daniel Bramer, CEO of Chip Pros Auto Glass.

It was a big storm that left a huge call log on Bramer's phone.

"People were starting to call me at midnight. I always have my phone on loud and actually had to turn my phone on silent because I couldn't sleep," he said.

Bramer said they received over 250 calls for glass repairs since Thursday night and have already booked their available services through Monday.

"Full black glasses broken out, windows on the sides, quarter glasses, windshields look like complete spiderwebs," he said.

While Bramer's company guarantees a 24-hour turnaround for customers, he says it's more than likely other people seeking glass repairs will be waiting longer.

"I heard from customers that were waiting out till the 8th to the 10th," he said.

For each glass his team of 25 employees are now scrambling to replace, the price for car owners can climb from $300 to upwards of  $1,000 while many still wait for insurance help.

"It really depends on the car, he recalibration, if you do have a camera in your windshield, is really what makes it expensive, the equipment that we use is thousands of dollars," he said.

Windshield damages only scratch the surface of what car owners could face. Just outside their home in Thornton, Bramer's family is dealing with the aftermath of both of their cars having dents all over.

"My car got pelted pretty hard," he said. "I would say probably about $6,000 to $7,000 in damage per vehicle."

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