[JoeTheWanderer]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

And reviews from Ricky Ponting, Isac Newton and all names

haha, yes. Here's another one that I think we can use to relieve some tension during tough times.



A few more Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V "reviews".

[sukarsan]

these guys are just app makers trying to make money.. they are not adding any value and not attempting to solve any real problem such as providing training to the mechanics.
Fake/paid reviews are a reality. Its too easy for a competitor to tarnish ones image by posting a fake review and a paid review is the only way to counter that. Reviews will eventually be of either 1 star or 5 star.
In some sense, I find google maps to be free of this problem. Not many people check the reviews in google maps, and has not attracted the attention of these fakers. The fake ones are somewhat easily identifiable. Even this am sure will become outdated in the time to come..

[iamitp]

I have Tweeted this thread link to Gomechanic and tagged the founders. Keen on seeing their response. Here is the link for the tweet.




https://twitter.com/iamitp/status/1388045297578774533

[vinit.merchant]

This is a sad sad industry in itself, the fake review industry.
It started off with providing false 5star ratings to jack up the overall rating of any product, which is ofcourse unethical, but for a clever consumer, it wont be too difficult to see through it.
The worst part of this industry is generating false negative ratings for a competitors product. And this competitor would almost always be someone trying to run the business ethically, without the help of fake +ve reviews. This can destroy such ethics and force the guy to resort to pay for fake +ve reviews.

The difference in both is, when a consumer goes shopping, he/she almost always gives look at highly rated products, and almost always ignores badly rated one without even opening the product page.

[HooghlyBoy]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

And reviews from Ricky Ponting, Isac Newton and all names

Edit - Somehow, this looks so unreal -

Attachment 2150650

We the consumers have also been responsible in setting up this parallel fake industry where-in Isaac Newton wakes up from his grave to give the products/services 5 Star Review.
One of my cousins was harassed for coughing up repairing charges by a Bangalore-based Self-drive Car Rental for scratches in a car while handing back after a weekend drive. As a last resort my cousin threatened to give 1 star review from the entire Engineering College Hostel(more than 400 Reviews)for their pathetic services. They reached a compromise where-in they didn't give any negative review and the 5 students got Biryani as a Treat.

[askrahul]

I had even highlighted this on social media last year:


Google Review:


They did not even respond.
They seriously need to change their Social media team.

[prafulasher]

My car (Honda City 3rd Gen pre-facelift) has been in the parking most of the time due to the lockdown-like situation in Pune. Over the past couple of weeks, I could see a bit of oil on my parking floor. Did some investigation in the engine bay and figured out that it was a leak in the fuel filter possibly due to some kind of an impact to it.

As I didn't want to drive to a garage with even a minute risk of the engine stalling, I booked an appointment with GoMechanic for a "Fluid Checkup" service. I received a call from the nearest GoMechanic affiliated garage (S.K Motors - Kondhwa) and the concerned supervisor Mr. Syed Noman spoke to me on the phone. He requested that I get the car to the workshop as it wasn't that far away and the leak seemed minor. I took my car to the workshop.

The guys at the workshop didn't have a filter in stock and arranged for one from another garage within 15-20 mins. The new fuel filter was installed onto the car and the engine oil was topped up. Had a weird gut-feel when I saw the replacement filter (Purolator PI-718900) and I took a snap. The workshop attendant assured me it is the same one that comes with the car and that Honda rebrands it. I let them install the fuel filter onto the car as the old one had already been taken out. The bill came to 600/- and I paid the same online. The GoMechanic supervisor generated an invoice and I received the same on the app.

On reaching home, I looked the filter up online and came to know that that particular model is meant for a Santro/Lancer. I raised the concern with Noman and he tried assuring me that this is also used for the Honda City. I did point out to him that the purolator site has a separate model for the Honda but he asked me to get back in case I face a problem. I wonder if I can take that chance cause the problem in this case might be significant if something goes wrong and not something I want to take casually. Attaching an excerpt of the conversation below.



Here is what the company Purolator claims fits my car.


Here is what the guys at SK Motors (GoMechanic) installed.


Here is the original bent filter.


Here is the replacement.


The leakage has stopped but the anxiety persists. I will get the original filter installed from Honda when the lockdown situation relaxes. Till then I am not going to use the car unless there is an absolute emergency. I prefer people who handle my cars to be serious about what they do and not this negligent.

It might be a case of me overthinking too much about a simple component but I prefer to take good care of my cars.

[jeygani]

Originally Posted by prafulasher

On reaching home, I looked the filter up online and came to know that that particular model is meant for a Santro/Lancer

When in doubt, please have it changed to City's specification.
I guess the mechanic was negligent to use filter meant for Santro/Lancer.
It will have same attachment thread and the same diameter gasket, so would have fit properly. Best way is to get parts yourself if visiting independent garages and filters (Air, Cabin, Oil) are easily available.

Purolator is good brand for oil filters.
I am using Purolator 458000I99 Oil Filter in my Honda City 2010 model.

You can also use the below filter from Mahle Tennex

[nkrishnap]

This is a very common menace now a days. Opting a service by the sheer number of positive reviews can turnout exactly otherwise.

I run a service oriented business and astonishingly get a couple of 1 star reviews out of nowhere with poor comments. Upon double checking, we did not have such a customer in the recent past or the in the total entirety of the business duration itself. A couple of days pass by and a gentleman walks in the workplace and requests for a meeting. He goes on explaining how important it is to have a good google rating and stuff. Finally after losing patience for the continuous blabbering of this person for 30 minutes, I asked what is here for and to be told in one sentence.

"100 5 star reviews for 5000 bucks". I was quiet for a minute. Then told him it is fantastic value for money and asked him to send me a formal quote so that I can make the payment. He collected my email id to share the quote and left the workplace. It has been a few months and no quote has come, but a another 1 star review promptly came.

Now we have stopped asking our customers to review at all on any platform and request us to send us their praises or loathes to us directly.

Crazy world out there. There are a lot of people who has taken such services and one of my customer who is a dentist has this review of cars (he was proud to have high number of reviews for a paltry sum of 10,000 bucks) And many other reviews look very similar.







On an another note, a few threaten to give you a low rating if you dont comply to their demands on price or anything that is deemed unfair by you and considered ok by the customer.

A couple of weeks back was having this discussion with Moderator Vidyut and was telling him, I will post about this when I find some leisure time.

[aerohit]

Looks like GoMechanic is bit like Byjus / Whitehat Junior of automobile maintenance.

Never believe reviews, be it google or amazon or Facebook.

Ask real people for real feedback.

[Ashok.Vardhan]

There is a fair amount of speculation, by quite a few people here, who have not actually bought any spares from GoMechanic but are concluding about the veracity of their business.

I have been a long time lurker at Team-BHP, takes too much effort to keep writing on forums, but this instance made me think otherwise, because I am sure there will be others like me who can benefit from such businesses instead of getting turned away by this speculation.

I have a Maruti Esteem (1998). In the past I would usually go to my local MGP dealer (RPB Automotives, Visakhapatnam) for sourcing spares, however, in the last 2-3 years they have become very reluctant and unenthusiastic whenever I come for spares.

In the last instance (July 2020) they sold me a MGP "Genuine" windshield for the Esteem which had a defect in it--there was a thin layer of foggy residue in the laminate that could not be cleaned away--which I only discovered after having it installed and driving in the night time. This defect was not visible during daylight (unless closely inspected), however, in the night oncoming traffic lights would highlight this layer as a foggy layer, dangerously hampering visibility.

Any other company would have just replaced the part, but RPB just refused, giving all kinds of lame excuses for not replacing it. Imagine an MGP dealer doing such a thing? Even that happens.

I even wrote to their MD, Maruti Customer Care, without any resolution. So I just left that defective windshield back at RPB and resolved to never to go back there ever again, if I could help it.

Fast forward to June, 2021, the radiator of the Esteem broke and was spilling fluid everywhere. Then I happened across Boodmo, from one of Ashish Masih's review, seemed like a life saver. Not only that, it would ensure that I need not have to go back to RPB. A little more digging, for similar alternatives, made me bump into GoMechanic Spares as well.

While BoodMo has a well documented catalogue (with photos and part numbers) and offers a wide inventory of spares for all kinds of cars, GoMechanic (who are still in the process of building their catalogue) has the best prices.

GoMechanic even offered free shipping (on the entire order) once my order value exceeded a certain amount.

So I searched for the parts using BoodMo, found out the exact part number/sku#, and placed the order at GoMechanic.

The order was placed on 1st June (check photos) when almost the whole country was in a lockdown. The customer support executives at GoMechanic Spares (Mohit Kataria & Sagar) were upfront about the delays in supply chains (procurement from vendors and dispatch through couriers) and gave me an estimate of 2-3 weeks (depending on the unlocking statuses of the various states) for the parts to be delivered.

Guess what, on 21st the first batch of spares were delivered (their systems are still under development, so the order still shows it as "ready to dispatch", however, I have already received them and also installed them)

So it's just not worth to speculate, or rely on hearsay, without any direct experience. There are people out there taking risks, setting up startups, to change how we function and do business in India, not all of them are out to scam us.

I am not one who documents and writes "reviews" often (otherwise I would have done a proper "unboxing" and start-to-finish review, it just never occurred to me at the time of ordering that there would be so many suspicious people, so I only have photos of the parts already installed like the radiator), but in this case I realize, my experience will help others, like me, having a limited budgets and having a tough time to find rare to source spare parts. If you look at the Gabriel struts, they were manufactured in March, 2021. So it's not like they are trying to sell old stock either. The MGP radiator was from 2016 (if I remember correctly), which is expected since Maruti stopped production quite a while ago.

[Ashok.Vardhan]

So I ordered some more parts from GoMechanic Spares for another car that is also a little hard to source parts for: 3rd Generation Honda CRV. Even in this instance I was able to source them at a much cheaper overall cost, than either an authorized service center, or even BoodMo.

Sometimes, I do run into the issue of some items of my order getting cancelled for their inability to source them (I would not hold that against them because even this model, like my '98 carburetor Esteem, is technically "out of production" though Honda still supports it for service at the ASCs). What I found even more revealing was that there were packages from GoMechanic Spares in the storage area of the delivery truck, for elsewhere in my neighbourhood, which came as a surprise because here I was under the impression that my neighbourhood (outskirts of Visakhapatnam towards Bheemili) would hardly have anyone using such a service for their needs. I thought I would be a rare savyy internet user for this service in this area, boy was I wrong. Now even I am more confident to order more.

So make up your own minds on how useful this parts ordering service is, instead of falling for hearsay from those who have not even tried it.

All the best folks.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

On an another note, a few threaten to give you a low rating if you dont comply to their demands on price or anything that is deemed unfair by you and considered ok by the customer.

OT but this is my favorite take-down of people arm-twisting business owners in the name of negative reviews.

https://www.eater.com/2014/10/6/6925...ntitled-yelper

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by Ashok.Vardhan

So I ordered some more parts from GoMechanic Spares

All the best folks.

Looks like you were just lucky!

Many friends and people I know are struggling with them even now! We had to ask for help through some contact to get things resolved. Really shady business practice.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...ml#post5280021 (Best sites to buy parts online)

Posting this here to save others from the same ordeal.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by JoeTheWanderer

It all started as a coincidence

Great thread! I actually don't install apps based on reviews, but when deciding between two different products on Amazon this does come in play. Will be careful going forward .

Originally Posted by libranof1987

OT but this is my favorite take-down of people arm-twisting business owners in the name of negative reviews.

https://www.eater.com/2014/10/6/6925...ntitled-yelper

This is hilarious!