Syracuse Glass Co. Inc. has sent a letter to its customers saying that it will not implement the new National Auto Glass Specifications rebalancing price list when it is scheduled to go into effect February 28.

Here is the text of the letter.

February 17, 2005

Dear Valued Auto Glass Customer:

National Auto Glass Specifications (NAGS) has announced that it is "rebalancing", in effect substantially lowering, its benchmark list prices in a new calculator document dated February 28, 2005.

A lower list price that more closely matches the cost to acquire our industry's parts is probably a good thing.

And moving away from our industry's ridiculously low fixed labor charge to a pricing system that takes into account the differing labor effort for different replacement jobs, and includes a more accurate and substantial rate for labor costs involved in running a business today is probably a good thing too.

But while lower list prices and more meaningful labor charges would be nice, a break from the pricing erosion that has plagued our industry for years would be even nicer. After some study, I still can't figure out the net effect of using this pricing.

I know that you are busy evaluating the many and varied offers that are being made by the insurance companies. During this period of pricing uncertainty, we certainly don't want to be adding to the complexity here, so we will continue to use the existing fall 2004 NAGS benchmark prices after February 28, and until further notice.

In summary, there will be no change in your cost for glass parts here. We'll try to keep our end as simple as we can for you - the same pricing, prompt, friendly service, and by serving you as a supplier rather than competing with you.

Sincerely,

John Dwyer