[sandeep joshi]

Some puncturewalas wear rings in their fingers which has small pin/needle kind of thing attached. You cannot see this pin from outside , I observe that sometimes when they check tube for puncture, this ring which has pin attached make small small holes in tube.
So check if puncturewala has wear some rings in a fingers, if yes then be alert

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Maxwell Arthur

Have a question in mind. If a couple of people are sitting in the car when the pressure is being checked on the tyres, are we not adding a 100 Kgs(approximately) to the weight of the car? The pressure thus is more than what is required. I might be wrong here. I always make it a point to check tyre pressure while driving alone and I stand out when it is being checked.

Originally Posted by ironshark

Valid point.

Weight of vehicle/weight on tyre will not change the air pressure reading in the tyre. You're forgetting some basic physics.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by ironshark

Me - "Thik hai. Aise galat kaam wapas mat karna. Wo ane ke baad usko bhi bol do" (Don't do such malpractices ever again. Tell your owner whenever he's back)

Chotu - "Zabaan deta hu Sahab, zindagi me fir kabhi aisa nahi hoga mujhse" (I give my word sir, will never do such a thing again, ever)

Sensing the genuinity in his eyes, I drove off.......

Tear jerking, made me totally emotional. You, my friend, have reformed a criminal

[lapsi]

Originally Posted by ironshark

Me - "Kidhar gya tera maalik?" (Where is the owner)

Chotu - "Kal subah ke baad gaya, ab tak aya nahi" (Went somewhere yesterday morning, din't return as yet)

Well, I would assume he has gone underground fearing cop trouble. In fact, you should register a NC compliant at the cop station so that they know that such things are going on at that shop. Just one person knowing what he does will not deter him. He can afford to pay off 1 guy when he can pocket the profit from the 99 who won't come back.

Originally Posted by ironshark

Me - "Thik hai. Aise galat kaam wapas mat karna. Wo ane ke baad usko bhi bol do" (Don't do such malpractices ever again. Tell your owner whenever he's back)

Chotu - "Zabaan deta hu Sahab, zindagi me fir kabhi aisa nahi hoga mujhse" (I give my word sir, will never do such a thing again, ever)

Sensing the genuinity in his eyes, I drove off.......

Originally Posted by ironshark

After slapping the Chotu and he confessing everything, I was breathing fire under the owner's neck. He was literally shivering. I doubt wether he'll have any such ideas again!

Believe me Omtoatom, these guys understand such language only. I am sure, incase they want to fool anyone henceforth, my slaps will ring 1000 times in their ears, and they'll think again. That was my motive.

Wow. You reformed someone for his entire life with a couple of slaps. Really? I wonder if you actually believe this. If you do, send a friend a few days later and you will be able to confirm that they are back to their old modus operandi. It may be better to file that NC. There is nothing to it and you are an HR guy. If you can deal with crooks, you can surely deal with cops

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Tear jerking, made me totally emotional. You, my friend, have reformed a criminal.

I am sorry but I am rofl

[dhanushs]

Thanks for the heads up!

Yes, this is a scam thats been going on for long and I've also been a victim of it. My brand new Bridgstone Duellers got a sidewall puncture.

What I learnt is: Please try to use reliable places even for petty jobs like filling up air, and always monitor what they are doing in your car.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

For Rs. 70 more, they have a foot pump. I suppose that this will be easy to manage, but can't make out from the picture if it has a pressure gauge.

I've a pump for my son's bicycle, it is very light and very easy to operate. It costed me just about Rs. 175 and has been working fine for over a year now. But, it can't be used for cars.

Uh - Firefox? Atleast this Giyo model is used by ~20+ cyclist friends on roadbikes etc and not one person has ever had an issue with it. Like I say - total peace of mind for 900 bucks (typically u get ~10% discount!).

[sandeepmohan]

Good you belted him physically and verbally. Though I do not have the courage to do what you just did, in this situation, I might have thrashed the owner too. Rage would have simply gotten over me. Something like this will upset anyone and the situation could have been a lot worse. What if you had a emergency, had to drive to the hospital and found the tire flat? These are things these idiots don't think can happen. All they want is to make a quick buck.

Like many have suggested, buy your own pump and top up the tires. I use a good old cycle pump. Takes just 5 min to check all tires and top up pressure accordingly.

[ironshark]

Originally Posted by Googleman

While I was in Pune, this slap technique works out.

BUT...

When you are in bangalore... better do not even think about it.

Why? What's the difference between Pune and B'lore crooks?

Originally Posted by sandeep joshi

Some puncturewalas wear rings in their fingers which has small pin/needle kind of thing attached. You cannot see this pin from outside , I observe that sometimes when they check tube for puncture, this ring which has pin attached make small small holes in tube.
So check if puncturewala has wear some rings in a fingers, if yes then be alert

Ah, this is interesting. Didn't know about this trick. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Tear jerking, made me totally emotional. You, my friend, have reformed a criminal

Sarcasm eh? Anyways, I am satisfied that I DID something and that's important. He will be a changed person or no, I don't know and I don't care but I am sure this experience will be with him.

Originally Posted by lapsi

Well, I would assume he has gone underground fearing cop trouble. In fact, you should register a NC compliant at the cop station so that they know that such things are going on at that shop. Just one person knowing what he does will not deter him. He can afford to pay off 1 guy when he can pocket the profit from the 99 who won't come back.

LOL !! Cops?? What do you think the cops will do even if they know such things go on at the shop? Do you really feel the cops have the time, or I must say the will to even look at such issues, let alone attend them?

[Maxwell Arthur]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Weight of vehicle/weight on tyre will not change the air pressure reading in the tyre. You're forgetting some basic physics.

Ok. Another question then. Then why would the tyre pressure differ for vehicles. Shouldn't they all be the same? Again I might be wrong but it is always said that for diesel engines since the engine is much heavier the tyre pressure for the front tyres is more compared to the ones in the rear.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Maxwell Arthur

Ok. Another question then. Then why would the tyre pressure differ for vehicles. Shouldn't they all be the same? Again I might be wrong but it is always said that for diesel engines since the engine is much heavier the tyre pressure for the front tyres is more compared to the ones in the rear.

I think we would go completely off-topic on this thread if I set about explaining the physics of air pressure, but these links should help you understand the concept:

1. http://www.seplessons.org/node/287

2. http://ask.metafilter.com/143775/Why...e-payload-much

[SDP]

Originally Posted by ironshark

...
LOL !! Cops?? What do you think the cops will do even if they know such things go on at the shop? Do you really feel the cops have the time, or I must say the will to even look at such issues, let alone attend them?

Let's not ignore the nuisance value of cops.

Dream Scenario: The cops interfere. Lock up the guy or give him a stern warning and then keep an eye on his activities.

Realistic Scenario: The cops threaten the guy with action/arrest and then "settle" the matter.

"Really Shady" Scenario: A "revenue-sharing" arrangement is born.

[arindamray]

I have bought http://www.amazon.com/AAA-250-PSI-Vo...air+compressor and it works like charm

[Enigmatic]

Hey ironshark,

Although it is good to note that "chotu" was reformed, i must say that slapping "him" wasn't the right choice.

You must understand that the shop owner was the one who forced him to do such an act. Also "chotu" in all probability is poverty stricken and is less fortunate. He must be having a family for whom he finds difficult to make the ends meet. And hence he must have been forced by the shop owner to do such an act.

On a different note I do understand your temperament specially when such an act could have lead to much worse consequences such as being stranded on the highway at night all by your self or even worse with a female passenger. If "chotu" had done this to my car I would have been furious as well. However going and slapping a person whose hands are tied is not what i would have done.

According to me if one has the guts to slap a guy repeatedly he also has the links to show his influence over a tyre shop guy. Hence i would have gone with a couple of friends or the police and threatened to close down his shop for his malicious practices. Believe me he would have given you the money even without manhandling .

We do need to understand that this situation could have gone horribly wrong as well. What if the tire shop guy would have responded by calling his mates and you being all alone would have been overpowered.

Please dont take this in the wrong way but i do believe that this situation could have been resolved in a better way.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by ironshark

Me - SLAPPPPPP!!! (shattering him)

Gosh! Sandeep, hats off to you man, good thing you taught the owner a good lesson. Though I must add here, that I am glad that the owner quickly agreed to the fault and things did not turn for the worse. Wonder how I missed this thread.

This happened near Thermax Chowk? Man, these people are all over the place.

The guy must have seriously never dreamt that things would end up this way for him coz people usually at the most scream and shout and then walk off in frustration.

I am sure this incident is going to deter him a bit if not totally, because the lure of easy money is very hard to ignore.

Even I am considering buying a pump to avoid visiting these places. Usually we all have a couple of reliable places but these are the situations when you feel the need of having one yourself.

[hocuspocus]

Originally Posted by ironshark

**This is not a regular "spill-nails-on-the-road-to-get-business" puncture scam**



Being a tubeless tyre, I took a chance and drove to wife's classes, picked her up and drove back home but till then, the tyre was almost totally deflated. It was about 9.30 pm. After dropping my wife home, I went and searched 2-3 other puncture wallah's but all were closed. So I decided to attend this the next morning.

<<Yesterday morning around 8.00 am>>

I picked up my regular puncture guy and got the tyre changed in my parking. We went to his shop to get the puncture repaired and MY SUSPICION HAD BEEN CONFIRMED. Yesterday's puncture guy had bored 4 tiny holes on my tyre's sidewall and wanted to earn a quick buck from me.

My blood started boiling imagining the daring of these guys.

Paid 320 bucks to the regular guy and off I was to this miscreant.

Me (to the owner) - "kal ka woh chotu kidhar hai" (where is yesterday's little guy?)

....snip....

Sensing the genuinity in his eyes, I drove off.......

First of all, thanks for sharing this incident with fellow bhpians. We will definately be careful the next time we visit the tyre refilling station.

However, please explain to me(and this is a doubt), the punctures on the sidewall of the tyres never hold up coz of the pressure being exerted sideways causing the tyre to rupture again. Yes, I know the tubeless tyres are repaired differently than conventional tyres, but even this puncture repair technique will not hold.

How did your tyrewallah repair the side wall puncture of a tubeless tyre? It could be a another learning in disguise.