Counterfeit Oil? I intend to keep at least 1L of Engine oil in the trunk of my Esteem to use for topping up before I start long trips. For this I went to my regular (and locally quite popular) parts dealer at Thane and bought at 3L bottle of Castrol GTX (1L was not in stock). It came with a free bottle (500ml ?) of Castrol brake oil as a special offer. I put the bottles in the trunk and drove down to Pune the next day...
When I got to my destination I found that quite a bit of oil had spilled in the trunk, both from the engine oil bottle and from the brake oil bottle. The bottles still have all the seals in place! I carefully packed both bottles into a plastic bag and cleaned up the mess.
When I got back to Thane a week later, I took the sealed leaky bottles back to the dealer and and asked for a refund / replacement... HE REFUSED, saying that the inner seal might have broken and that there was nothing wrong with the oil he sold me! How can it happen to 2 bottles at the same time? Too much of a coincidence for me! Also, I have never experienced SEALED bottles leaking before!
He has always been a bit arrogant, but that's ok with me cuz as long as I was sure I was getting parts / fluids from a "trusted" source, his behavior was irrelevant... but now I suspect that he has cheated me with the oil and I feel lucky that I did'nt pour any of it into my engine or my brake system!
I figure that either:
1. The oils are counterfeit Castrol
2. The oils are original but the package was defective / damaged at source.
In either case, I would have expected the dealer to replace the packs / refund my money. Needless to say, I am not doing any further business with him, but I want to do more to teach him a lesson and protect other people out there who love their cars...
I would like to publish the Name and Address of the dealer on this forum but am not sure whether that is allowed... Moderators / Senior members, please advise!
Also, is there some way I can get the Castrol people to come and check the packs of oil to determine whether they are counterfeit? (And replace them if they are found to be genuine!).
Thanks in advance for the advice guys!
- T u r b o C -
Edit: I'm not sure this is the right section to post this thread... Moderators, please advise and move it if neccessary (and PM me about the move). Thanx.
Last edited by turbo_c : 16th August 2005 at 17:28.
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