Even I became a victim of this Puncture Scam today!
While starting from my office in Vikhroli(Mumbai), I noticed that my front tyres seemed slightly deflated. I am very particular when it comes to maintaining tyre pressure and I check it at least once a week when I fill CNG.
On JVLR, just after descending from Powai Flyover and going towards L&T Flyover, there is a tyrewallah underneath the pedestrian bridge. One of the shed types. I did not get out of the car while the guy was checking and filling up. He took a while with the front left tyre and when he was finally done, he got up and said, “Sir, yeh tyre toh puncture hai!”. I got out and checked the tyre. It seemed normal. Just the way it looked in the office parking. I said, “Puncture toh lag nahi raha”. To which he said, “Sir, 3-4kms chalaoge toh poora flat ho jayega!”.
So, I agreed to let him remove and check the tyre for puncture.
When I reached his shed, there was already one biker who was getting his tyre checked and I could not park the car close to the curb. So, in order to let him mount the car on the jack safely without obstructing other traffic, I got in and started to reverse. But, he gestured and instructed me to bring the car in front.
When he removed the tyre, there were four nails stuck in the tyre! All of them close to one another. I did not suspect any foul play and asked him to replace it with the spare tyre.
I had replaced the valve pin of the spare tyre 3-4 weeks back from my local tyre shop because it was leaking air. I also had that tyre checked for punctures at that time and none was found.
When that guy took out the spare tyre he bounced it a several times on the ground and rolled it towards the front. When he reached the front side, he suddenly exclaimed, “Sir, stepney mai bhi puncture hai!”. Now, this was the first time I got just a little suspicious and said, “Kya baat kar rahe ho yaar! Yeh toh kuch din pehle hi check kiya tha!” To which he said, “Hindi hi bol raha hun, Sir! Puncture hai!”. And he showed me a bent nail stuck in the tread which he removed without much effort with his plier.
He seemed to be proud of this line, “Hindi hi bol raha hun , Sir!” which he delivered with a grin, each and every one of the numerous times that I blurted out, “Kya baat kar rahe ho, yaar!”.
I could clearly recall that my local tyre guy had checked the tyre thoroughly. Hence, I refused to get it repaired and asked him to put it back and repair the one he removed from the wheel. He fixed the four punctures, started filling air and again exclaimed, “Sir, valve bhi gaya hai! Puncture pe chalaoge toh valve toh jaana hi hai!” I had no other option but to agree to replace the valve for 350 bucks! I asked him to give me the old valve which he removed.
In total, I coughed up 900 bucks. 150 for each puncture and 350 for the valve, minus a discount of 50 after some haggling!
When I reached home, I took the car to my local trustworthy tyre guy and had him check the spare tyre again. He checked it thoroughly for 10mins by immersing it in the water tub and said there is no puncture. I told him I saw the other guy remove the nail in front of me! To which he said, the other guy probably lodged it in between the tread without me noticing and removed it quickly! I also showed him the valve which I had retained. He asked me how did it get bent like this! Obviously, that guy must have twisted it to show that its leaking air when immersed!
By now, I was seething! I rushed home and Googled for “tyre puncture fraud” which brought me to the TBHP thread. I have been an avid follower of TBHP since atleast 6-7 years and a mute member since 2014 (I do feel extremely guilty of not having shared anything, despite having gained so much from this forum).
But, as fate would have it, I missed reading about this scam all these years! If only I had hit upon this thread a day earlier, I would have saved 900 bucks and my tyre from being murdered right in front of me!
My Made-in-China Dashcam did a good job of capturing this rascal(guy in striped T-Shirt). He also has an accomplice who is off-camera.
Video 1:
Video 2:
This is the exact spot where this guy is located:
https://goo.gl/a7Fzbw