Punctures are really common on bikes, cars, and scooters. It is usual to have 1-2 punctures in tyres, but what is uncommon is 20 punctures and more. This issue was recently faced by a traveler on Mumbai- Pune Highway when he received about 21 punctures in his car’s front tyre. To get it fixed, he had to pay INR 2,650. But, in reality, it wasn’t a puncture but a scam, played by Puncture gang! If you travel on Mumbai-Pune Highway, beware! You could be the next target! Stay alert.
Gang Fools The Travelers
These people earn about 6 thousand rupees by fooling the travelers as that is how they complete their daily targets. On getting caught by police, they revealed the trick that helps them in fooling people and being able to show more number of punctures in the tyre than the number of punctures actually present! This is how they get their way.
The Details Of The Incident
The traveler was a resident of Pune and was driving his Maruti Ciaz on the highway when 2 bikers crossed him closely from the left and after some time, he realized that air was less in his car’s tyres so he stopped at a car repair shop for the usual air pressure check in the tyres. However, the repairman insisted on checking the punctures as it had 5 pressure points.
The man at the shop passed the tire tube to another worker at the repair shop and meanwhile kept the Punekar busy in chatting. The worker at the shop dipped the tire in water and showed 21 punctures in the tire tube, further informing that they will charge INR 120 per puncture, making a total of INR 2,650.
Mistakes Made By The Traveler
The bikers that crossed him may have dropped something that caused a puncture but he didn’t take notice of that. Also, if he felt the need to get the air in the tyre fixed, he should have just done that instead of going ahead with the puncture check. Furthermore, he shouldn’t have gotten engrossed in talks with the man at the shop in the first place and must have paid attention.
The Trick They Used
The man who opens the tire and the one who fixes it is two different people. The first one gets the customer busy in talking while the other mixes ENO in water, that contains CO2 gas which develops bubbles in water, and then creates air pressure up to 50-70 psi. This helps in getting the air out even from the tiniest holes of the tyre.
What Can One Do About It?
If the tyre is tubeless, there is no need to open the tyre. Also, you should always keep air pressure up to 35psi in the tyre. And, always prefer professional repair shops and petrol pumps. Moreover, always keep a spare tyre tube in the car, if you feel the air in the tyre is less, replace it with a spare one. And lastly always get the repair done in front of you and pay attention to all that is happening with your car tyre. It is very important to know these little things we might ignore otherwise. A few cunning people are always out there to fool you and trick you into things. All in order to loot money from you. The tricks they practice might seem easy to catch. But remember, they do it so professionally that it skips our vigilant eye also sometimes! They take their business seriously and that is what helps them earn about INR 6000 per month.
It is painfully hilarious how they would have fooled so many travelers into this in the past. Also, check out how companies fool customers with their false packaging. It is really hilarious.