Have you ever been to a puncture shop to have a check on the tyres and ended up paying 2000-3000? That's what has happened with me in Pune last year. This time i was more cautious and saved money (relatively) while visiting these puncture shops.
10 points PSI!
There are several problems with these shops. To start with, the boys over there have a trick to show you that one of the tyres is riding low. The most common pressure i promise that you'll see is 10 points (PSI)! The next thing that happens is a trick. This guy shows that he's trying to fill some air in the low-pressure-detected tyre but isn't working. His solution: remove the tyre and check for punctures. But since filling-the-air exercise has failed, the valve is judged as faulty by him and even before you realise, he removes the valve and replaces with a Rs. 480 (price varies between 380 and 480, your luck) "original" MRF valve! Now the tyre is ready for the air and the following inspection for punctures.
The soap water bath
The further success of the puncture man there lies in a bottle, filled with soap water! Yes, that's what is poured on your tyre to detect a puncture (many actually). So, wherever there is a bigger bubble, this guy declares a puncture and uses his hand sue (or the drill) to plug the puncture with the strip. (price of the strip also varies from 100-120). This goes on for anywhere between 3 to 10 times). And with each puncture, know that your bill is shooting up. The problem in here is you don't even know how many punctures are gonna be there, before actually getting them fixed!
The passionate patch
Now comes the biggest con of all in this drama. The boy tells you that since you are going a long distance or going off-road and to improve the life of the multi-puncture tyre, a patch must be applied on the inner wall of the tyre. Cost? Invariably around 400 a piece. Remember how many punctures were 'detected' by the boy? 7? (your bill is 480 + 800 = 1280 already). And two or three patches take your bill past 2000. While the patching might help you in the city speed limits of 60 Kmph, you will experience a lot of vibrations in the car when you cross 80 Kmph. I have suffered this agony big time in my last year's return drive from Pune. Know what? A tubeless tyre doesn't need a goddamn patch, ever! Yet all of those puncture boys insist on the patches so passionately that you feel scared to reject installing them.
I have tried all the 3 shops on the road mentioned earlier. 2 of them, almost opposite to each other (near Siesta LXIA hotel) are run by the same owner! One is right outside the Indian Oil Fuel Station. And they all work the same way and charge the same way too! All this puncture fixing happens at a lightening speed. And you don't realise that you are cheated big time until you arrive at another puncture shop with an honest guy.
In my last drive to Pune a couple of weeks ago, coincidentally i stayed in Hinjawadi again. But i was very cautious with these guys and saved myself quite well from a loot. So what do you do to keep from burning a hole in your pocket?
Here is a piece of advice.
The best thing to do is to STAY AWAY from these 3 puncture shops". I am sure you will find many once you reach the service road of NH-48 or go across the highway (which is hardly a couple of minutes drive from these shops). IF you are not sure of it or are in a hurry, do insist on finding how many punctures are there in the tyre first before actually plugging any! This is where it hurts the puncture-man! Tell him not to fix any puncture unless you know the number. Ask him to use plain water and not soap water. Offer him your water bottle if he pretends to not have plain water. He might get really pissed off at you. Stay calm! See how drastically the number reduces then. See carefully and don't let him use his hand sue until all punctures are found. He might tell you that glass piece or nail is stuck somewhere. Tell him to mark it. Finally if the number of punctures is high, ask him to stop the whole thing and replace the tyre with the spare one. He might insist to fix the punctured tyre, with all the imaginative reasons you wouldn't have heard of. And Say a big no for patches! No. Do not fall for them!
i remember that last year a friend in my Facebook list had shared a similar experience. Don't remember if it was from the same place in Pune! Please spread this word of caution against these fraudsters.
Drive safe.
 |
| 3 shops on this road. 2 on one side and one on another. take my word: Avoid'em all! |
There are several problems with these shops. To start with, the boys over there have a trick to show you that one of the tyres is riding low. The most common pressure i promise that you'll see is 10 points (PSI)! The next thing that happens is a trick. This guy shows that he's trying to fill some air in the low-pressure-detected tyre but isn't working. His solution: remove the tyre and check for punctures. But since filling-the-air exercise has failed, the valve is judged as faulty by him and even before you realise, he removes the valve and replaces with a Rs. 480 (price varies between 380 and 480, your luck) "original" MRF valve! Now the tyre is ready for the air and the following inspection for punctures.
The soap water bath
The further success of the puncture man there lies in a bottle, filled with soap water! Yes, that's what is poured on your tyre to detect a puncture (many actually). So, wherever there is a bigger bubble, this guy declares a puncture and uses his hand sue (or the drill) to plug the puncture with the strip. (price of the strip also varies from 100-120). This goes on for anywhere between 3 to 10 times). And with each puncture, know that your bill is shooting up. The problem in here is you don't even know how many punctures are gonna be there, before actually getting them fixed!
The passionate patch
Now comes the biggest con of all in this drama. The boy tells you that since you are going a long distance or going off-road and to improve the life of the multi-puncture tyre, a patch must be applied on the inner wall of the tyre. Cost? Invariably around 400 a piece. Remember how many punctures were 'detected' by the boy? 7? (your bill is 480 + 800 = 1280 already). And two or three patches take your bill past 2000. While the patching might help you in the city speed limits of 60 Kmph, you will experience a lot of vibrations in the car when you cross 80 Kmph. I have suffered this agony big time in my last year's return drive from Pune. Know what? A tubeless tyre doesn't need a goddamn patch, ever! Yet all of those puncture boys insist on the patches so passionately that you feel scared to reject installing them.
I have tried all the 3 shops on the road mentioned earlier. 2 of them, almost opposite to each other (near Siesta LXIA hotel) are run by the same owner! One is right outside the Indian Oil Fuel Station. And they all work the same way and charge the same way too! All this puncture fixing happens at a lightening speed. And you don't realise that you are cheated big time until you arrive at another puncture shop with an honest guy.
In my last drive to Pune a couple of weeks ago, coincidentally i stayed in Hinjawadi again. But i was very cautious with these guys and saved myself quite well from a loot. So what do you do to keep from burning a hole in your pocket?
Here is a piece of advice.
The best thing to do is to STAY AWAY from these 3 puncture shops". I am sure you will find many once you reach the service road of NH-48 or go across the highway (which is hardly a couple of minutes drive from these shops). IF you are not sure of it or are in a hurry, do insist on finding how many punctures are there in the tyre first before actually plugging any! This is where it hurts the puncture-man! Tell him not to fix any puncture unless you know the number. Ask him to use plain water and not soap water. Offer him your water bottle if he pretends to not have plain water. He might get really pissed off at you. Stay calm! See how drastically the number reduces then. See carefully and don't let him use his hand sue until all punctures are found. He might tell you that glass piece or nail is stuck somewhere. Tell him to mark it. Finally if the number of punctures is high, ask him to stop the whole thing and replace the tyre with the spare one. He might insist to fix the punctured tyre, with all the imaginative reasons you wouldn't have heard of. And Say a big no for patches! No. Do not fall for them!
i remember that last year a friend in my Facebook list had shared a similar experience. Don't remember if it was from the same place in Pune! Please spread this word of caution against these fraudsters.
Drive safe.
