Charged 550 rupees for one mushroom patty: Did I overpay? | Team-Health and Safety

Now this was the first shop I noticed but on the way home there were three other piercing shops open.

BHPian varkey recently shared this with fellow enthusiasts:

Last night we thought we would go for a short drive, got ready and started the vehicle only to find something odd and I suddenly remembered that pressure warning from the day before. It was only 1 Psi less than the warning criteria on the sensor and the other three tires were about the same as well, I just put it down to some slow loss of pressure since it’s been a while since I topped off. I thought I’d top up on the next ride.

Anyway, I got out to find the tire completely flat and the app also showed a very low reading. It didn’t take me long to find a bolt stuck in the tire. Rather than replace the spare, I thought it was easier to just fill it up with a portable tire inflator and then drive to a shop with the flat and get it fixed.

Using the bundled tire inflation that came with the vehicle, it took a few minutes but managed to get the tire to about 40 Psi. Since it was a bit later at night I wasn’t sure if the piercing shops would be open but I was happy to find one open very close to where I live.

I thought the repairman would just remove the bolt and use a threaded strip to fix the puncture without removing the wheel, especially since I showed where the bolt was punctured. But then he removed the wheel, removed the bolt and checked for other defects. He then asked what method he should use and said that the strip is not very good and should only be used for a temporary fix and I should go to the sponge patch for a more permanent fix. He even said that strips are only used for two-wheelers and that I should go for mushrooms. In terms of pricing, he quoted Rs 150 for a regular patch and Rs 500 for a mushroom patch.

Now I was confused, more than 3x the price, so I initially told him to use the strips, then after thinking for a while, get a sponge. If a mushroom patch is better, then why not if it reduces the likelihood of another puncture in the same place. Personally, for me, a trip delayed or unable to travel in an emergency due to a flat tire was more disappointing and frustrating.

It was a small shop attached to a petrol station on Mysore Road, but he had all the power tools and equipment to quickly remove the tire from the bike and proceed to apply the fungus patch. I felt he did a decent job. I also had all the other tires topped up with air. Now once the work was done he added another Rs 100 as service charge. It was finally fixed at Rs.550.

Now this was the first shop I noticed but on the way home there were three other piercing shops open. 2 of the others were smaller workshops so maybe they didn’t have all the powered equipment, especially the one that took the tire off the bike. I’m just wondering if I stopped by one of these other stores, would they push the mushrooms considering the manual effort is more? Did this guy only recommend the mushrooming option for higher returns?

Before going to the piercer, I hadn’t even considered using anything other than a strip type repair, so if the repairman hadn’t mentioned the possibility of a mushroom patch, I wouldn’t have asked for it.

I came across this thread when I got home and felt good that I had gone for the mushrooms.

However, one question I had was about the rate, I ended up paying Rs 550 for the mushroom patty, is this the normal rate in Bangalore? I felt it was on the higher side.