[poloman]

Just saw your post. This more or less sums up my experience. Half bumper is in no way half as you mentioned rightly. I told them since the scratch is on a small contour which was on the bottom side and even a 1/5 of paint will give good results . In fact they had done the same thing last time promising a full bumper paint.They are not willing to listen to customer suggestions and gave 'care a damn' attitude.

[pc73]

I believe the management has changed in Sai Colorium. I visited recently and was told that Mr. Anant is no longer the sole owner of the place and a new partner has come in. I met the gentleman who is supposed to be a partner now and he told me that he is trying to bring in better process and also streamline the prices. I found him monitoring the employees closely and making sure people are productive.

In the recent past, I have not been happy with the work they did. They messed up the color on my wife's car when she had a scratch on the door (they redid the paint job when my wife complained strongly). On another occasion, when her car had a dent on the bumper, the paint job was sub-par (dust, unsmooth) and finish was really bad. The promised timelines were also not met. After recommending this place to my wife (as opposed to Honda A.S.S), I had to eat my words on two occasions.

I am not sure if the fall in quality of work is related to the management transition they are supposed to be going through. Nonetheless, the prices have gone up significantly while the quality of work has fallen.

No longer a recommended place though I have had about 75% success rate with them and would probably give them one more chance.

[ajmat]

In 2008, the roof panel of my Swift got damaged and needed a respray which was done by suraksha. They had not prepared the surface properly so the paint started peeling and the car looked like it had leukoderma.

Add to that, an i10 pranged the front driver side damaging the bumper and distorted the wing.

I took it to Sai. A new person Thulasi is in charge and gave me a pretty good quote of Rs 12500 to respray the roof, fender and bumper + body polish. With the exception of Ananth's brother and a few of the workers, everyone else seemed new.

Matching is quite good. There were less cars though. I was quite pleased with the work done.

[Vik0728]

My GT was vandalized by some low witted scum and this was the result:



I did not really take the car over to the VW service center, but just called my SA to get an approximate quote. He outrightly said that the entire door needed a repaint and straight away suggested I claim the insurance since it can be upwards of 20k !!

I thanked him for his superlative vision and asked him to take a hike !! So, I called up Mr Ananth from Sai Colorium who asked me to get the car over immediately. I met Mr Tulasi & Mr Sanath who themselves felt sorry for the car and assured to restore my GT to its glory for a fraction of the money projected by VW SA. I readily handed over my GT and the wait began.

Got my car yesterday and this is the magice Sai Colorium can do for 4k !!

[Nikhilb2008]

So, Bharat and Ananth are still at Sai Colorium? Their numbers have been unreachable for weeks!

[tabrez]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

So, I called up Mr Ananth from Sai Colorium who asked me to get the car over immediately.

Vik,
could you kindly share the cell number of Mr. Ananth or anyone that I ought to speak to at Sai Colorium ? My Punto Sports was similarly vandalized by some low-life 2 nights ago & I haven't had a wink ever since. Also, how long did it take them to restore your car ? How is the overall work quality since I've been reading a lot of dissatisfied folks on this threads ?

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

So, Bharat and Ananth are still at Sai Colorium? Their numbers have been unreachable for weeks!

Hey sorry for a delayed response Nikhil. Yes, Ananth & Bharat are very much the Owners (?) of Sai Colorium.

I understand from Ananth that he has changed his mobile number due to some personal obligations.

Originally Posted by tabrez

Vik,
could you kindly share the cell number of Mr. Ananth or anyone that I ought to speak to at Sai Colorium ?

Hey tabrez I do have Ananth's number but he had requested me not to share it with anybody and I respect that.

However, you can get in touch with one of the floor managers by name Thulasi. You can tell him that I (Vikram) shared his contact number.

Thulasi # - 09686664563

With respect to work, I have absolutely no complaints. They really have quite capable painters & paint booth. In fact, the prices they quote as well are very reasonable and way below the OEMs. Based on the time available, I would say their turn around time is less than 2 days from the time your car is taken in.

Just ensure that you insist them on not dirtying your interiors if you probably have light or beige inside. Not that they do it on purpose, but at times it does seem to happen inevitably.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by pratyush6

20k for a door paint In the past I have had similar scratches (if not worse) and always got it done at the Ford Service Centers and it never amounted to more than 4k. If there was a dent then the cost would be close to 6k. And never was I not satisfied with the work. 20k is loot really.

Well pratyush this was projected cost. I am not quite sure if this would have increased or decreased on further examination at the service center. Also, I was told it will take at least 3 days if not more.

I could not stay away from my GT for so long let alone leave it out of my sight.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

I did not really take the car over to the VW service center, but just called my SA to get an approximate quote. He outrightly said that the entire door needed a repaint and straight away suggested I claim the insurance since it can be upwards of 20k !!

20k for a door paint In the past I have had similar scratches (if not worse) and always got it done at the Ford Service Centers and it never amounted to more than 4k. If there was a dent then the cost would be close to 6k. And never was I not satisfied with the work. 20k is loot really.

My XUV 500 had a cosmetic treatment from Sai Colorium. The colour-matching was 100% perfect. I am fully satisfied with the work.

BEFORE



AFTER



The details are here.

My erstwhile FIAT Linea too was treated here in October, 2011. The details are here.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

So, Bharat and Ananth are still at Sai Colorium? Their numbers have been unreachable for weeks!

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Yes, Ananth & Bharat are very much the Owners (?) of Sai Colorium.

I understand from Ananth that he has changed his mobile number due to some personal obligations.

They are still there, but with a new management.
Sai colorium is no longer the same as it used to be 2-3 years back, it's all changed coz of new management.
Ananth, Bharath were such a nice guys to deal with.
Now it's no more customer friendly with the new Management.
Checkout my Car's bumper colour matching, it's not even matched by 80%, they say that this is the best we can manage.(check bumper colour & bonnet colour), in REAL it's even worse during sunlight.
I know bumper is pretty much hard to match with body panel as bumper is plastic material... But notice the difference it's way too different.


I went there thrice to show them the difference, but they always say it has matched, Oh man the new Manager(he partly owns) is best avoided for talking terms. He is so rude to deal with.
I've strictly avoided going to Sai colorium anymore & avoided atleast 2 of my friends from getting their vehicle painted there coz of this carelessness & worst attitude to accept the mistake(colour mismatch)

[Chetan_Rao]

I had to get my car's left door panel repaired and repainted last weekend for a bad scratch. Despite my car's original paint being 8+ years old, they managed to shade-match pretty satisfactorily. I also got a rubbing/polishing/waxing job done and the car looks good as new now.

[Chetan_Rao]

Well, I had a chance to make a repeat visit for the denting/painting job I'd got done a few weeks ago, and came away less than 100% satisfied.

The freshly painted area started to show irregularities in the surface finish. It looked like the repaired area wasn't smoothed out perfectly before painting, and there were faint lines visible all over the panel under the paint coat. Also, there were a few pin-point sized dots forming on the painted panel where I thought the repaired surface had collapsed back onto itself. The plastic side-skirt on the door panel had a few bubbles on the paint as well.

They said they'll sand and polish it again to smooth out the surface, which I didn't find very convincing. How will polishing over the paint surface remove irregularities under the paint?

Anyway, I let them try what they wanted and the surface did improve (not 100% though). What irked me was the suggestion that I was being finicky about ONE panel, when there were other panels on my car which had worse finishing. I was also told that I'm expecting too much for a 'reasonable' price. I also didn't buy their argument that my car is old and hence the surface finish will never be 100% on a repainted panel. I can understand that an old surface can't be finished perfectly without stripping and repainting, but I have no idea why that's a constraint with a panel that they did prepare/repaint from scratch.

I calmly told them I'm only demanding they do a good job on the panel they've repaired, I'm not bothering them about other imperfect panels they had nothing to do with. Also, I paid the quoted price (and it's not like they're any cheaper than others in the same business) and if that's not enough to deliver a good job, they should consider revising their rates. I came to them as they were recommended for their good work, not their cheap prices.

I won't claim I was completely dissatisfied by the job done, but I found the attitude hard to digest, esp. with how their tone and approach changed in the two conversations I had with them (before and after). Given their own claims that they're one of the best in the body-work business and maintain higher standards than even OEMs, I was disappointed how they made excuses for below-par delivery post facto and also suggested they can't compete with OEMs without significant investment so I should keep my expectations in check. I was also told if I ever wanted a full respray in the future, I'll either be turned away or quoted 2-3 times the going rate because I'm too finicky and will cause them repeated rework. I just said thanks and left. Will I be a repeat customer? Probably not.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

What irked me was the suggestion that I was being finicky about ONE panel, when there were other panels on my car which had worse finishing.
I was also told that I'm expecting too much for a 'reasonable' price.

how their tone and approach changed in the two conversations I had with them (before and after).
suggested they can't compete with OEMs without significant investment so I should keep my expectations in check.
I was also told if I ever wanted a full respray in the future, I'll either be turned away or quoted 2-3 times the going rate because I'm too finicky and will cause them repeated rework.

Wow. Some great early reviews on TBHP seems to have gone into their heads. Looks like their service and attitude has gone south since then. I will surely not be going there anytime and will dissuade other friends from going there too.. I get better service from the A.S.S (and I am talking about Skoda, mind you)

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I was also told if I ever wanted a full respray in the future, I'll either be turned away or quoted 2-3 times the going rate because I'm too finicky and will cause them repeated rework. I just said thanks and left. Will I be a repeat customer? Probably not.

They had the audacity to tell you this on your face? Directly or indirectly?
The So called spots and dots in the paint finish are mainly due to bad sanding and poor quality of Putty/primer used.
IF they have this kind of attitude they are good for serving only the cab/taxi drivers.
Can you post a picture of the finish please?

Originally Posted by hrman

Wow. Some great early reviews on TBHP seems to have gone into their heads. Looks like their service and attitude has gone south since then. I will surely not be going there anytime and will dissuade other friends from going there too.. I get better service from the A.S.S (and I am talking about Skoda, mind you)

I got a couple of panels resprayed at this place
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bangal...bangalore.html

They did a fine job and gave back the car the same day! Finish and color matching was excellent. They may not have the equipment of Sai colorium but trust me these guys do a good job.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

They had the audacity to tell you this

One gentleman in Sai Colorium is particularly rude and indifferent to the customers. i am sure this might be the same person.

If you want quality work never think about taking your car to these shady paint booths. I learnt this hard way. Most of these guys are putty masters. Instead of pulling out the dent neatly they mask the dent with putty and cheat the customers. In the previous page I had shown pictures of damaged running board repair. The area got damaged again when my jack slipped, I was shocked to find a putty piece as big as a gooseberry falling out.
Trend automobiles on Hosur main road is another place where you can expect sub standard paint jobs. He had the audacity to offer touching up poorly finished paint job with a paint brush.