Dear fellow pakwheelers hope you are all doing well and in good health. I am not a very frequent poster at Pakwheels mostly I like to read silently and keep myself aware with the latest happenings. So I stumbled upon a thread here in FRAUDS & THEFTS section “Do not Auto Plaza market” and I was really surprised to read that so many people have posted their bad experiences about scams, thefts and blackmailing’s that they have experienced at Plaza market and based on my experience and frequent visits to the Plaza market I would say that unfortunately these cases are mostly true.
I am a Karachi resident and I do not call myself expert in cars but every now when there is a need I do visit plaza market. Over the last few years if I remember correctly whenever I have had the chance to visit plaza market I have always seen people arguing, fighting, and just make a scene all around and stuff like this is frequent and generally police or the local store owners do not pay any attention to this and things just take their course.
What I started noticing lately is a huge influx of street vendors, freelance mechanics and fixer all around plaza market and these people are in huge numbers and right from the get go these people signal your car into the parking lane ( if you are visiting the market ) and suddenly 8-10 people surround your car offering you all kinds of services. Now if for any reason you decide to acquire services from any of these people, the resulting outcome had not been pleasant for many. I have seen people getting bullied, threatened and beaten up by these street thugs not because they are very brave or dangerous but they are like a pack of dogs and because of their numbers they do tend to overpower and threaten you if you have some disagreement with them.
So the reason I am posting this thread is to share some of the things I have learned and followed that have by the grace of Allah saved me from any such experiences for as long as I have been visiting Plaza and maybe this could be helpful for any fellow pakwheelers planning to visit the market in future.
1) First and foremost, decide what you need to buy from there and focus on that. The reason being if you are just going on window shopping then chances are you could buy or get talked into some service that you don’t require and end up with a disagreement later on and get in trouble.
2) When you would park your car it’s highly likely that many people would surround your car and offer you all kinds of services from rubber change, to windscreen polish to car polish to wipers etc etc. Simply get out of the car and tell them you are here for (Point 1 above) nothing else. DO NOT and I mean DO NOT stand there and discuss about their services, what they are offering, what they would charge…. Discussion like this would only drag you into their bullshits offers and believe me these people do this all day, all year so they would very easily convince you to try their service as a sample, free demo or what not and then the scam unfolds later.
3) If you require any of the roadside service always discuss each and every aspect of that service with the vendor without trying anything. Discuss the price, discuss how much you need, what would be the total bill, what material they would use and what if they damage your car applying the item would they replace it. Never get talked into buying additional service for other things of your cars that you do not require at that moment. Like if you applying tints to your windows do not get talked into buy outside rubber, number plate cover, steering cover etc..
4) When you have discussed the service and price with your vendor let the work begin and my sincere advice to you is to NEVER leave the work site while the guy is working on your car. There are many reasons, they could damage other items, steal stuff from your car, claim they have worked on additional stuff on your car and also add the said service to other areas of the car that you did not tell them to do. If such thing happens then its their word against yours and you would most likely get into an argument and a very bad experience. Get the work done in your presence and if the work is not done right stop it right there and pay the vendor for the work already done and leave. Its better to stop the work there, than let him finish the rest and then complain.
5) When you buy stuff or service that is priced in metrics such as sq feet, or meter always try and understand the full scope of work and ask about the full complete pricing of the work do not go for 20 rupees sq. ft ( bhai zyada nahi hai ap kaam dekho rates hojaingy, Ya jo marzi daydena ) these are just rubbish and mostly vendors who offer such services are the ones you need to be very aware off as they often misquote the work and cost and then rip you off later.
6) Disagreements and bad deals sometimes are inevitable and when these do happen remember being firm, collective and cool mind is the only way you could get out of such scenarios peacefully. Arguing back, fighting, claiming your heritage ( son of falana, member of falani tanzeem ) could sometimes work but in the heat of the moment is most likely to bring more bad then good. I have seen cases where people have abused the vendors and gotten beaten pretty badly by the mafia mob so it’s better to stay calm and think then fight back.
7) If possible take a friend with you who could stay with your car if you are planning to go in search for something that could take time. It’s not necessary but it would just save you the trouble of finding your car damaged or scratched or something ripped off of it when you return.. Things do happen
8) Finally, be wary and attentive of your deals but at the same time be respectful of others when dealing. These are for sure poor people working on cheap labor for your property but at the end of the day many are supporting their families and see respect the same way as our educated masses.
So this is no guide just my personal tips and thoughts on the Plaza scamming issues and how you could avoid getting sucked into these scams most of the times. Now if many of you are thinking why in the first place you should visit plaza then I would say from my experience that most of the items that you would find online on sites are available in Plaza in half the price and also many stuff that you won’t find anywhere online is available at stores so that’s the reason why many visit this market.
Also within the old plaza thread I have read some cases where people have claimed that they were away and work was done on their car without their permission or knowledge which is something I highly doubt is possible because my personal understanding is in such cases there must have been some sort of service agreement which could have gone south in the absence of the owner else it is very unlikely that someone would open a lock car and apply rubber all over their car and then wait for owner to comeback to claim money just a thought….
Anyways, I hope this info could be useful for any of the future visitors and if some of you have your own suggestions and tips please feel free to add to this list for others assistance.
Thank you all!!!
