[underground1419]

Two weeks ago I set off to get a sunfilm fitted on my Alto. 3M's RE35 was my preferred choice having it on most of my other cars.

I headed down to Car Shringar on Richmond road, as usual he never has anything in stock and having dealt with him many times in the past, I wasn't interested in wasting an entire day for sunfilm alone.

As I exited Raheja complex, I noticed a place called Tint Mart next to Pitstop. I stopped to enquire as they had sported a banner which said they carry every brand of sunfilm. I later find out Tint Mart was owned & run by the chain smokers @Pitstop.

I ask for the RE35 and was told that 3M wasn't supplying it for quite some time, and that he would have to source it from other car decors blah blah. He then took out a brochure of a brand going by the name 'Kool Tint'. I was blown away by the range and claims on paper. I was quote a similar price as RE35 for the IR35 series of Kool Tint. Specs go somewhat like this - HR-73%, IR 96% and UV 99% VLT 37%. It seemed a much better deal that 3Ms film and I was also told that this film is a US brand and has recently come into India, 3YR warranty etc. So i go ahead and purchase it.

A week later when Bangalore's skies cleared up, I noticed that the sunfilm was hardly of any use at all. This was no more than a coloured sheet to darken the windows with!

While passing through Victoria Road last Sunday evening, I was taken aback when I saw a To-Let sign hanging outside Tint-Mart. I reached home and made a few phone calls to some of the Car decors I have dealt with in the past and enquired about Kool Tint. I was told by many of them that this is substandard sunfilm, marketed (&maybe procured) by Pitstop itself under a bogus distributor company. Of course, I do not stand by the latter as I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the claim, so mods if this needs to be edited, please let me know.

Well, all in all, I don't think me going and arguing with Pitstop is going to yield any result, apart from me inhaling a few tons of 2nd hand smoke , so I thought it better to let others know about my experience and take cautious steps while dealing with such establishments.

P.S: I was also told that Infra Kool is also upto such gimmicks having lost distributorship of V-Kool for fraudulent practices. They now promote a brand called Infra-Kool, again, I was about to have them fit my sunfilm before Tint Mart but wasn't too convinced about their offerings and pricing.

As always, it is better to deal with a known devil than an unknown one.

[crazydiablo]

Only V Kool is a known brand. Thanks for the writeup, I was about to go to them thinking they are V Kool dist.

[akshaymahajan]

Do you have like a warranty card or does the film have Kool Tint watermark at some place?
Kool tint is a US based brand and Tint mart is listed as the distributor.
Koll Tint + The Clear Heat Control Film

PS: dont know about how the brand is but when you open the website, the title bar say KOLL TINT

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by akshaymahajan

Do you have like a warranty card or does the film have Kool Tint watermark at some place?
Kool tint is a US based brand and Tint mart is listed as the distributor.
Koll Tint + The Clear Heat Control Film

PS: dont know about how the brand is but when you open the website, the title bar say KOLL TINT

Website dosent really seem legit. I mean when the title says USA why would they only list their India distributor with nothing mentioning any US address or anything?

[akshaymahajan]

Agreed akshay1234, it has like a million spelling mistakes(sorry for not checking their website earlier).
And cross checked the list of the "IWFA" it does not have Kool Tint's name. And it has no reviews online.
And funny thing is even though they claim to be a US company, they have European (spelt Europen) car models which are like a decade old.

I think you should go back to pitstop, and tell those chain smokers that you are filing a case of fraud unless they give you your money back and get there tints removed.

For a fake company, they have a great website (apart from the amazing spellings).

[tsk13]

The website has been designed by some Indian firm (since Developer's website ends with .in). Nothing American in the brand and the film, many such fly-by-night brands and shops fleece people by alluring specs. Better resort to known brands in case you want the features like HR and if you primarily want to tackle VLT (Visible Light Transmission) than the local films are good and certain local films have great scratch withstanding ability.

[underground1419]

@akshaymahajan: I realised I got ripped off soon after I saw the website mentioned on the warranty card. Funny thing is, the warranty card has the address of the Kool Tint distributor in India, a Mumbai address if I can remember rightly. Will post the name & address of the distributor in Mumbai later on today.
Yes, the film did sport a watermark. Kool Tint IR 35 Series, Made in U.S.A etc. That part was cut off as it was at the bottom of the film.
There is no point in me arguing with the dealer about anything. He has been around for over 25years and till date conducts all his business without bills. Strangely, warranty is applicable according to him.

@tsk: I usually stick to 3M. Was a mistake on my part for being in such a hurry to get the sunfilm. What can I say...I was conned even though I am no noob to car accessories. Sh*t happens!

[underground1419]

Now I'm wondering if I should manage with this film till summer sets in next year.

If I have it removed and 3M installed, will it stain/damage the glass?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by underground1419

Now I'm wondering if I should manage with this film till summer sets in next year.

If I have it removed and 3M installed, will it stain/damage the glass?

Better to get it ripped off now and install 3M. God knows what quality adhesive the film has, and what pains you might go through if it bonds with the glass properly.

[underground1419]

Hahaha, I just tried to submit a query on the Contact Us form on the 'Koll Tint USA' website. ASP error!

I think I need to go and argue it out with Pitstop just for the heck of it.

[VMC]

Yes..go and talk to them...ask them to remove the film, ask them to put 3M pay the difference if any. what do you say?
Atleast its better than asking them for a money back.

[ritayan]

Some interesting facts on the domain lookup.

Domain Name: KOOLTINTUSA.COM
Registrar: DIRECTI INTERNET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL: Public Domain Registry | Home
Name Server: NS1.INTERNETWORLDWIDE.IN
Name Server: NS2.INTERNETWORLDWIDE.IN
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 06-aug-2010
Creation Date: 06-aug-2010
Expiration Date: 06-aug-2011

What theives.

[underground1419]

Originally Posted by VMC

Yes..go and talk to them...ask them to remove the film, ask them to put 3M pay the difference if any. what do you say?
Atleast its better than asking them for a money back.

Talking to them is fine. As to the price difference. 3M RE series and Kool's IR35 are priced equally. That was what prompted me to go with Kool tint in the first place.
1. Non availability of RE35 is 4stores.
2. Kool Tint price = RE35 price
3. Kool Tint specs > RE35.
Considering Pitstop has been around for the last 25years in B'lore, I went ahead and had them fit the IR35.

Why on earth will I go back to them to fit 3M having had a bad experience? For all I know I will be duped again with a Chinese rip-off of 3M this time.

@all,
What is the best way right now for me to measure Kool Tint's actual performance?
Having blown money on this Kool tint film, I am considering running with these for some time, will have it replaced if it becomes unbearable.

[929RON]

Click on the links below and you will see the similarities, Ironically Websoft is linked to both the websites

KoolTint -

http://www.pitperformance.com/

See the layouts of the two websites, almost same,

Koll Tint + The Clear Heat Control Film

http://www.pitperformance.com/main.html

I Think these guys should be smarter than this, today's internet user is way ahead of all this obvious tactics.

At least if they had a virtual office address in the USA, it would have looked legit, one can hire a US based freelancer easily to maintain the website for reasonable from rentacoder etc

[Bullitt]

I have heard that certain outlets of V-Kool (and even 3M perhaps?) use UV or IR lamps or some such hi-tech gear to measure the actual capability of the sun-film that they sell in their stores. I believe they primarily use it as a sales pitch to convince their (skeptical) customers about the authenticity of their film, and also to demonstrate the difference between various grades of sun-films. You can try one of those places to "measure" the performance of the film you have (and also to ensure that you get genuine film, should you choose to replace the one you have got).

One more thing you can do is ask the Pit-Stop guys to prove that the film on your car conforms to what is mentioned on the warranty card in your possession. Who knows, maybe even they have the equipment for measuring the performance of sun-film too.

There is no point in arguing with the retailer unless you have substantial proof that the sunfilm they have installed is sub-standard.

- Bullitt.