It gets so hot here that just about EVERYBODY has to have their windows tinted. The missus and I have had numerous cars tinted, and have paid a range of prices; and used everything from:
"we'll come to your house and do it outside for a hundred and fifty dollars"
...through...
"We do it under a collapsible sunshade round the back of our building"
...to...
"We drive your car into our clean, dust-free facility, and the film is automatically computer-cut from a database, for a perfect fit".
This last one was the most expensive. -But they GUARANTEE their work. My Audi and the wife's Merc were both done there.
On my Audi, the dot matrix is superbly done. It's just absolutely perfect.
It could be cheap film, since I believe that not all films are created equally, and not all films stick so well as they perhaps should... but it's more commonly down to the skill of the person applying the tint.... and a GOOD tinter will know which films are actually good and which ones are just 'cheap'.
Sounds VERY much to me like your tinter is either NOT very experienced, or perhaps just not at all skilled.
-And I got my Sportback done -INCLUDING tinting the open-sky roof front and back- for about $280 US, using Lumar ceramic tint. (NOT metaLlized, and NOT dye-based... dye based films can wash out and fade, and metallized films cut down on cellphone reception, though they're the only choice if you want a 'silvery' tint...)
Since just aboue everyone gets their glass tinted in these parts, GOOD places are easy to find, and there's a lot of competition for business, which helps keep costs down... but there's also a lot of pressure to be AT LEAST as good as your competitors, or start losing jobs. -the BEST places are the ones which do it right or your money back... and mine has a 5 year satisfaction warranty.
Since I started going to the place I use now, Ive been UTTERLY satisfied, and have never had ANY of the issues that I've had with other tinters... like dirt trapped under the film, 'scabbed' rubber where they've 'nicked' the seal with a kniefe while trimming the film etc, or bubbling or fading film... -Yes, I've had all of these problems over the years, but they STOPPED when I went to a GOOD tinter.
I'm with Nige here... -If your tinter has to ask how to do it without bubbling around the black dotty bits, he's not a skilled tinter, and if you want the job "dunrite"... he's not the man for you.
Can provide pics if required... though my car is a bit of a dirty mess today.