Re: Doorstep servicing

Topic Approved.

The last I heard, some guys were complaining but again those could be exception case. Only local Pune guys canclarify better.

[MENTION=21192]antz.bin[/MENTION] Bro, could you help the above member?

Re: Doorstep servicing

I finally got my bike serviced at my doorstep.

I contacted 3 providers, Garage2Ghar, EMSeva and Clutcheal.
I'd first booked an appointment with Garage2Ghar, but cancelled it when I realised that they outsourced their work to local providers.
I then came across EMSeva. They have a self contained servicing vehicle, with pneumatic lifts, and therefore must have their own mechanics. I requested a servicing on their website, and I got a call back a day later and set an appointment. They were booked up for 4 days, so I had to settle for having my bike serviced over the weekend.
However, they called and cancelled a day before, and we rescheduled for Tuesday. However, it was raining really heavily, so I decided to reschedule again. When I called on Monday I was informed that they were about to call me as well, as their mechanics hadn't turned up because of the rain. I told them I'll call them when the rain eases to book an appointment.
However, when I called a week later, I was told that they were booked solid for a week.

I've hardly covered 400kms on my bike in the last year and a half, and wanted to get it looked soon, so I decided to call another provider, Clutcheal.

They outsource their operations too, but in my locality they have their own mechanic.

I booked an appointment for the next day (Saturday) at 11 am.
The mechanic called me 10.30 am, and asked for directions, and what the problems with the bike were.
He showed up at my place at 11.30, and got to work.
He had no uniform, just a bag with a few tools, and no container to save used oil for disposal.

He had a look at my bike, took it for a test drive, and got to work.
He cleaned the spark plug, opened up the air-filter for cleaning, but since I hadn't ridden the bike, it was spotless.
He checked the battery voltage, the chain slack, and the suspension (by pushing down on the bike).
He said my front shockers would need a bit of work in a few months, and the rear would have to be replaced down the road.
He looked at the engine oil, and saw that it was still red and didn't need topping up.
He then took a bit of it on his fingers and gave it a whiff, and told me that it didn't need changing.
He had a checklist and went through each item on it.
I asked him to check the tappets (because the Suzuki service checklist says that the tappet clearance should be checked and adjusted at practically every service - but I don't think the service centers ever done that). He said that if the tappets were a problem, then there would be a very distinctive noise, and my bike wasn't making it. He also said that he'd need to open up the engine to check the clearance and make any adjustments, and he couldn't do that at my place. But, it wasn't required for my bike.

He told me that the reason my bike's acceleration wasn't smooth, and that it was making a bit of noise (I hadn't noticed either!) was because the petrol had gone bad. It was almost on reserve, and he suggested adding a couple of liters of power petrol, and using it up before refueling.

He also said there was a bit of oil leakage that would need to be looked into in the future. He concluded that my seeing a bit of gunk buildup near the engine. But I think that could just be the result of not having the bike washed at a service center for 18 months.

He had a look at my tyres, and said the rubber was getting cracks, and while they were functional with lot of tread left on them, I should change them if I decided to go out of town.

There was a bit of rust on the fuel tank, below the lid, which he said could be taken care of at their workshop, where they'd remove the tank, and sand it down.

He didn't have any grease for lubing the stand and other parts. He also didn't have anything to clean and lube the chain. Instead he just applied a little oil on it.
There was also no cleaning of the bike.

It took a little over an hour for him to complete his work.
Clutcheal charges Rs.350 for servicing, but since I booked an appointment in their happy hours, and I was a new customer, they charged me Rs.250, which I paid online - after the mechanic left.

The mechanic, Aslam, told me that the way he serviced the bike was the same way it was done at any service center.
He was polite, and seemed to know his stuff, but his demeanor wasn't professional like the mechanics at the Suzuki service center, and I wouldn't call him an expert or knowledgeable.
At no point did he try to up-sell me.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with him, especially since not much work was actually done and this servicing was more of a check-up.

I would have paid more that what I was charged in taxi fare, if I'd taken it to the official service center. And I would have spent two hours traveling up and down, instead of the hour and a half of watching, listening and learning from him as he explained what he was doing.