Sales Assistance
All shields shipped must be inspected by the customer immediately, and any damages must be reported within 14 days of receipt. Please do not file a claim with the carrier, we will take care of that. Failure to do so violates carriers policy, and you will not be able to recuperate your loss! Please do not let your delivery sit around without inspecting it.
If by some chance you received a wrong shield or someone else’s shield, you must notify us so that we can do a call tag and have it redirected to the right person and vice versa. Shipping it on your own without our approval will void a guaranteed replacement if it breaks during the shipment as it was done outside of our account and the carrier will not allow us to make a claim.
Please do not ship your shield to us unless you have been authorized to do so. You must either have submitted an order that you requested to ship your shield or you must submit a Quote Form, was quoted on it and Authorized to ship your old shield. Any shield shipped to us without authorization will get lost in the system. This is our process. Please avoid confusion by following this process.
UPD Plastics is not responsible for installation issues. If you are not sure how to install a windshield please hire a professional. If you break a windshield, we do not except responsibility for the actions of the installer. We are manufacturers of windshields, and installation is not part of our guarantee. The installer alone bears the responsibility for the decision to install the shield. If a shield cracks it can be due to incorrect drilling which can lead to chips which can spread in the form of cracks. A shield that cracks may be due to excessive vibration or twisting of the console while impacting waves. UPD Plastics inc. is not responsible for cracks that occur during or after a shield is installed. Please be sure that the above causes are illuminated to insure a windshields long life. If a shield does not look like it will fit correctly and it is forced into place and it cracks, UPD Plastics inc. does not cover this as it is the installers liability by forcing the shield. If a shield looks like it will not fit you should stop immediately, take pictures and email it to us for evaluation!
UPD Plastics inc. strives to make our shields to OEM Spec to ensure proper fit and look. Our tolerances are +/- 1/4″ due to acrylic not being consistent in thickness and expansion and contracting in the forming process. Forming windshields alters the properties of the material that can often cause some distortion. This is part of the process and cannot be avoided. Most of the time it is negligible. This is based on the thickness of the material and the amount of curve that is produced. The smaller the curve the more pronounced it is. There is no such thing as a optically perfect bend as the material is stretched and causes a magnification effect.
Thermoformed acrylic can have normal optical distortion at its bends. Return eligibility is governed by the Verified, Un-Verified and Guaranteed Match provisions below and our Free Return Policy.
Verified or Un-Verified: Compare the shape and contour with the website schematic and check every required inside dimension within ±¼ inch. Select Verified during purchasing only after completing that comparison; eligible Verified orders qualify for our Free Return Policy. If a required dimension is unknown, unchecked or outside that tolerance, or Verified is left unselected, the order is Un-Verified unless you send us your original windshield. Un-Verified orders do not qualify for returns or refunds for customer selection or fitment errors; UPD remains responsible for its own fabrication errors.
Send your original windshield: Your replacement order is automatically Verified, with a Guaranteed Match to the original provided—no questions asked. A separate schematic comparison is not required. Please follow our shipping authorization instructions before sending it.
For an ordinary Verified return, request return authorization within 30 days of delivery. The windshield must be unused and uninstalled, with no customer drilling, modification, scratches or damage, protective film intact and original packaging retained. Obtain authorization before shipping. UPD will provide a return label or freight pickup at no cost and inspect the return before a refund or replacement. Being made to order or to the selected schematic does not by itself disqualify an eligible Verified return. Changes of color or thickness remain excluded. See the Free Return Policy for full details.
If a replacement made from your original windshield does not match the original provided, UPD will repair, adjust, replace or refabricate it at our expense, including necessary return and replacement shipping. Ordinary Verified-return conditions do not limit this Guaranteed Match remedy or correction of UPD fabrication errors.
If you want to cancel your order you must email us with your order before we begin the fabrication of your shield. If you email us after we already fabricated your shield you are obligated to accept it and it cannot be canceled at that point. Giving us a form of payment constitutes a contract for us to make your shield.
Boat make, model, year and size alone do not establish a match. Customers must compare the schematic as described above. Un-Verified orders cannot be returned or refunded for customer selection or fitment errors. Eligible Verified orders follow the Free Return Policy. Sending your original windshield automatically establishes Verified status and our Guaranteed Match to that original. UPD remains responsible for its own fabrication errors.
When you send us your old windshield we do not retun it. Due to the mold making process, the old shield often times gets destroyed. Also adds to shipping charges due to a larger box as well as it adds to the liability of causing breakage of the new shield.
Many people make the mistake of using Windex or other such cleaners on their new windshield. Never use chemicals such as Windex, RainX or even vinegar to clean a plexiglas boat windshield. These chemicals will destroy the acrylic of plasticizers that help the Plexiglas remain somewhat pliable, and it’s this elasticity that helps prevent crazing and cracking. This strictly voids the manufacturers warrantee!
Use a gentle soap, such as Meguiar’s Gel Wash, Mothers Wash’n Wax or Star brite Sea Safe Boat Wash — along with lots of water. Polish acrylic windscreens with a plastic polish, such as Mothers Marine Power Plastic, Meguiar’s PlastX or Star brite Plastic Polish Restorer. These specially formulated polishes help restore and seal in the plexiglas’ moisture and protect against UV deterioration — another threat that can shorten any windscreen’s service life.
Cast Acrylic will of itself will not craze on its own. Acrylic sheet manufacturers will not warrantee Acrylic that suddenly changes in appearance such as crazing that is due to a chemical reaction which is environmentally generated.
Acrylic is a product that is made from fossil fuels and is inert in and of itself and does not craze on its own. When it meets a high viscosity chemical such as most household cleaning agents, paint fumes, hair dye, toe polish remover, denatured alcohol or any CFC based compressed can fumes, pesticides sprayed through the air this will cause the Acrylic to stress and if the chemical is in direct contact with the acrylic it could cause it to crack.
The use of PVC solvent and cleaner in an enclosed environment with poor ventilation can also cause Acrylic to craze. Some tarps for covering a boat can cause crazing especially if in direct sunlight where temperatures can exceed 150 degrees, and it will produce volatile fumes. Boats covered in tarps can trap gas fumes from fuel and can also accelerate the crazing of a boat windshield.
Acrylic sheet manufacturers do not cover crazing as that is clear evidence for them that something is attacking the Acrylic and is environmentally generated. Acrylic does not craze on its own except for several years of repeated sun and high temperature exposure which breaks down the Ultraviolet Inhibitors and Plasticizers in the material.
Many studies have demonstrated that two conditions must be present for stress crazing to develop on the surface of an acrylic sheet: stress within the acrylic sheet and the presence of an aggressive liquid or solvent. The presence of only one of these conditions does not cause crazing as a rule. Both must be present.
Summary:
Most all acrylic Fabricators around the country use the same material. If there were any defects in the materials it would show up in all the other windshields we have made as well as products of other companies. We have had no reports of any crazing with a rare exception every few years.
Additional factors for crazing:
Preventative care
Use a gentle soap, such as Meguiar’s Gel Wash, Mothers Wash’n Wax or Star brite Sea Safe Boat Wash — along with lots of water. Polish acrylic windscreens with a plastic polish, such as Mothers Marine Power Plastic, Meguiar’s PlastX or Star brite Plastic Polish Restorer. These specially formulated polishes help restore and seal in the plexiglas’ moisture and protect against UV deterioration — another threat that can shorten any windscreen’s service life.
UPD Plastics inc.
Most all acrylic Fabricators around the country use the same material. If there were any defects in the materials it would show up in all the other windshields we have made as well as products of other companies. We have had no reports of any crazing with a rare exception every few years.
UPD Plastics inc.
*Sales tax will be added for Florida residents. Outside the US taxes are to be paid by the customer to their local broker!
This email is for general questions only, please. Questions about the below we cannot answer.
