[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by ACM

I guess everyone would have had a similar incident happen to them - but they may or maynot have bought the product itself.

In my case once at a petrol pump a guy similarly offered to show the magic his product would do on the black trims on my Laura. I liked what I saw. I had to get a puncher worked upon at the tyrewala at the pump.

I told the guy that there are many such products with me and what was required was for someone to apply them rather then sell me one more container.

I next made a deal with the guy to apply the stuff that was giving a vibrant look to all the black plastic areas all over the exterior plastics of my car for Rs. 100. I would not buy the product and he has to apply this from his already opened can from which he was doing the demo.

He did a good job over the next 20 mins and I paid him Rs. 100, work was done while the tyre got refitted and I was happy overall.

I guess the fact that I insisted on the work being done on the spot helped and he obviously could not sell me some junk.

ACM, This is almost what I did recently at the IBP bunk in Koramangala.

We were approached by a person speaking chaste Hindi who inquired about the locations of scratches on our car so that he could demonstrate his product. I showed him all the locations one-by-one and he removed ALL the scratches.

In fact, I still can't see any of the scratches even though its been some months now. And the process itself was amazing. This guy just applied a small dab of some thick solution with a cloth on a long scratch on the ORVM and presto, the scratch was gone!

By now, my wife was suitably impressed and she insisted that we buy the product which cost the same Rs. 525. The product came with 3 containers including the one for scratches.

I however told the guy that I will think about it and come back if I want it. That was because a few years ago, we had seen a similar demonstration and had purchased a similar shrink-wrapped product but with more containers for Rs. 700 odd.

We spent an entire day going through each of the containers one by one and the end result was that there was NO effect at all on the car.

I told my wife this time that I would gladly pay Rs. 200 instead to get our car as good as new.

So the bottom-line is: I believe that the product they demonstrate is NOT the one they give you when you buy.

It would be interesting to see if anyone on Team-BHP can get these guys to demonstrate with the containers out of a newly opened shrink-wrapped package.

[snorting bull]

Please do not allow anyone to spray anything on your car. I had done this once and the chemical ended up being so strong that eventually, the surface of the car got rough and the paint withered off only in that place. Ask anyone to get out of the place if they come with a spray. My 2 cents to all.

[joshguy]

@ Brix - Sorry to hear your story,but i did buy one such product from a guy at a petrol pump near Airport .One Shampoo ,one scratch remover/rubbing polish,dashboard/plastic shiner and they are working perfectly fine.

in fact i used/still use only the scratch remover and it was a useful buy for me at 450(3yrs back)

BTW was it for Wagon R or FIGO?

[rajneeesh]

Well i have been using this stuff for over three years now. In Delhi the pack contains a rubbing compuond, a car shampoo, Dash cleaner ( aerosol), wind shield liquid and a sponge. They start at Rs 650 but I have haggle3d and got it at Rs 310/- .

I have got good results till now and am especially happy with the rubbing compound.

[mi2n]

Could we not inform the authorities at the big oil companies like BPCL, IOC, etc. about such malpractice at the bunks? After all its their pumps/franchisees/premises that these crooks are operating from. A collective application might just work.

[shyaGO]

I often see similar product sold at Mauli petrol station, Baner road Pune. These guys are very pushy and will give you demonstration while air refill.
STAY AWAY from them!

[Brix]

Originally Posted by joshguy

@ Brix - Sorry to hear your story,but i did buy one such product from a guy at a petrol pump near Airport .

BTW was it for Wagon R or FIGO?

It was for the Figo, Josh. After all the protection I gave it, I had to bungle this myself.

I guess you were lucky.

Originally Posted by mi2n

Could we not inform the authorities at the big oil companies like BPCL, IOC, etc. about such malpractice at the bunks?

The pumps are themselves operated by thieves. My Dad was in Senior Management in IOC and there's actually precious little you can do in reality.

[DevilsOwn]

It is posts such as these that make me want to go back to the self imposed exile from net forums. For what it's worth, here's 2 incidents which can hopefully make better sense prevail.

Before I begin though, I am would like to say that as a member of the automobile fraternity, it is extremely disappointing to see the attitude where there is a case of a bad product, and there are scores of knowledgeable members adding fuel to the fire without appropriate action/basis (pardon the generalisation but the incidents below will answer the questions considering that a bad experience was generalise against the product/company to begin with).

Incident 1: I was at the manipal bunk last week on a ride towards whitefield on one of the bikes. The shine star guy came over, and seeing as it was already clean he didnt offer to spray anything and was extremely courteous and curious about the bike. I asked him if it was a new product and if he could give me a demo.

That guy, with sweat dripping in the hot sun, was stunned and said I dont need it because its already shining, I insisted and he gave me a demo (I only did it to make him happy, I dont buy any "products" to clean my bikes/cars (except one, which Incident 2 will describe), I know how to keep them shining with a little common sense and home made solutions which work better (This is after trying from Sonax to 3M). I bought a whole set of this shine star stuff and used it at home and was pleasantly surprised that IT WORKS.

Now, since they have a website with an address and phone number, I suggest the affected party offer feedback and/or take it up that way. But I can assure you, the product itself is fine, and the company, if it has some brains, will accept constructive criticism.

Incident 2: i went over to the extremely incompetent Metro Ford showroom on St Marks road (full marks for customer service, 0 for knowing anything about cars, except one of the electrical workers and one of the supervisors) to get the Fuel Pump checked.

There walk in 2 gentlemen from 3M (This according to the ones who are badmouthing the shinestar guys, is a better/trusted brand am guessing?) pointing out at a couple of scratches on the car offering a free demo and an apparent 10% discount on the 3M job.

He picked a spot and shined it up nice and glossy, then I took him over to the other side and pointed to a small line (about an inch) on the left rear door which was deep. I told him that the inch long line on the left rear door was actually a 3 foot long scratch across the left of the car (someone probably felt happy using a stone/key/anything sharp on a black car!). I also told him that I used simple rubbing compound and some left over waxpol to get it to disappear and that I had left that one inch as it was on a different panel and I wanted to tackle it another day (the smaller line too has since disappeared).

That said, would I bad mouth 3M for charging me a lot of money yet not removing scratches etc? No, because I neither depend on them nor do I doubt their ability, they are running a business and can offer what works for their balance sheet. Period.

As for those who want to remove scratches, rather than going about buying all kind of "scratch removal" products, I suggest you get some rubbing compound, and get to work and finish off with a buff. If it doesnt go, you arent doing it right.

As for detailing and all the other products that the brands/service stations offer. Let me tell the members that neither of our cars have ever gone in for that and when I sold one of them last month after a good 11 years of ownership, the buyer couldnt believe that the seats, bonnet, etc were OEM and insisted that I have either changed them or had them "done". (he also insisted that my 40000km Bridestone Turanzas were new).

That's just how you keep/drive a machine, without depending on fancy products. It can be done, please try.

(I wont be posting any pics of anything but if someone wants a live demo they can feel free to join one of the meets and I'll back up the claims above.)

[hirajan]

I see this as a blessing in disguise.

You've learnt your lessons without doing much damage to your car. You would have cursed yourself if that product damaged body paint ot corroded the dash. Thank God for that and thanks a ton for sharing.

For thats matter, i always rely on branded products for any use. I always say no to cheap chinese products. I dont recommend Chinese toys for kids, they have traces to carcinogenic toxins. Though not all products are bad but we can't distinguish them without any specialised test or something. If you are not sure, stay away.

My family doctor narrated a incident, a young man walked in with a rectangular burnt path on this chest. When the doctor enquired what happened, he said that he was talking on his mobile the previous night and since battery was running low, he connected the charge and kept talking. At the end of his conversation he kept the mobile, while its charging, in his shirt pocket and slept. The mobile somehow blasted and made that mark on his chest. The mobile he used is a Chinese mobile.

[dww]

I was foolish enough to buy the exact same product (Anjali chem kit containing 3 items - two aerosol sprays and one dash polish) for the same price at the petrol bunk opposite Manipal Hospital on Old Airport Road, Bangalore recently. The fellow selling it was from north-east India.

I had a long scratch extending from the front left door to the rear left door, caused by a lapse of concentration. I told this guy to remove this scratch if I was to consider buying it. He actually did a great job of nearly hiding the scratch completely. And also removed a couple of other minor scratches. So, I went ahead and bought it (!) - the heat, crowd, and rush clouded my judgement, I suppose.

I did try it once on the whole car, but I felt it was a little risky. Reason was that I could smell Ammonia when I did it in the cool of my basement. I never used it after that one time. There is another dashboard polish that comes with the kit, and I used it once. Found it okay if applied to small areas and wiped clean without letting it get too dry. But I will NEVER use any of these again. They are risky.

Just like the OP said, reading about this kind of thing on this website didn't make me watch out. But I hope this personal experience has taught me a lesson.

Readers who have a tendency to make such purchases on a whim (like me), please remember the name of this product and stay away from it.

[dww]

I agree with DevilsOwn that the Shine Star guy at the petrol bunk opposite Manipal Hospital was not too pushy. And he did give some general advice on car paint touch-up.

The smell is what scared me. But I admit that the dashboard polish was not bad. Another thing I forgot to mention was that one of the aerosol sprays got nearly empty with one use. I don't think I wasted that much, but it's nearly over.

On a separate note, the advice he gave me for paint touch-up was to use nail polish! He said if I brought some to him, he could touch up minor scratches. Is this possible?

Originally Posted by DevilsOwn

Incident 1: I was at the manipal bunk last week on a ride towards whitefield on one of the bikes. The shine star guy came over, and seeing as it was already clean he didnt offer to spray anything and was extremely courteous and curious about the bike. I asked him if it was a new product and if he could give me a demo.

That guy, with sweat dripping in the hot sun, was stunned and said I dont need it because its already shining, I insisted and he gave me a demo (I only did it to make him happy, I dont buy any "products" to clean my bikes/cars (except one, which Incident 2 will describe), I know how to keep them shining with a little common sense and home made solutions which work better (This is after trying from Sonax to 3M). I bought a whole set of this shine star stuff and used it at home and was pleasantly surprised that IT WORKS.

Now, since they have a website with an address and phone number, I suggest the affected party offer feedback and/or take it up that way. But I can assure you, the product itself is fine, and the company, if it has some brains, will accept constructive criticism.

[danny25]

Originally Posted by dww

On a separate note, the advice he gave me for paint touch-up was to use nail polish! He said if I brought some to him, he could touch up minor scratches. Is this possible?

I highly doubt that nail polish would serve as a touch up aid. Nail polish does wear of and tend to chip with daily use of the hands.

However, this may be possible if you would perform a 'touch up' every few days.

I do not know if the metal or the paint would have any side effect of this action.

[proton]

Aforementioned petrol bunk, Manipal Hospital Opp Bunk, used to be listed as one of the better bunks in B'lore. The owner's name is proudly mentioned on the signboard.

Recently, the operation is susupect. Fuel quantities fluctuated. Also, they will refuse to fill a can if you request, as I did when I went to get some petrol for my house genset.The can is transparent and is graduated for quantity!

[TN_37]

Yesterday I spotted this product being sold at an IOCL outlet in RK Salai, Chennai. upon enquiry I was told that the sales people had come with a letter from IOCL & the outlet people had no other choice other than to allow them in their premises.

The people of the IOC outlet seemed not to be very pleased to have these car shine walas hanging around. The point is why does a company like IOCL allow such things to be sold / marketed / demonstrated at their outlet??

when the sales people approached my ride, politely yet stiffly I told them to back off.

[ajcpub]

Seen this many times in Bangalore. I was almost sold on it once as the guy demo'ed and quickly removed few scratches on my Car. For whatever reasons, was able to resist the temptation and after reading your post, am glad I did.