A netizen shared how his motorcycle has been making a rattling sound and he brought it to the service agent for repairs.
However, the staff then tried to sell him a new bike, telling him that the repairs would cost about $6,000 and it would be better if he bought a new one.
The netizen then said he can’t afford a new one and the staff then rolled his eyes at him and in the end, they ended up repairing his motorcycle with the wrong parts and charged him about $600.
The man’s motorcycle still didn’t run smoothly and he only realised that he had been shortchanged when he went to another repair shop.
Here is the story
My 6 year old scooter had a rattling sound when I accelerate and needs the clutch and transmission bearings to be replaced. There was no leak and the engine ran well as I regularly send the bike for service.
So on the morning of 3rd day of CNY, I brought the bike to its service agent, Mah Pte Ltd, and was told they’ll call me when the bike is ready. Instead, at 5pm, a guy named Alex called me to say my bike had serious problems and I had to come down to the work shop so he can explain it to me. It was too late so I went down the next day.
There, first thing Alex asked me was how many years of COE does my bike have left. Alex then went on to tell me my engine’s coolant was leaking and showed me a hole on a coolant pipe at what he called the “dynamo cover” and said it cannot be repaired. Replacement of parts there will cost $650++. Then he showed me a broken coolant bleeder tube, about 3mm diameter, at the top of the engine block and said this too cannot be repaired. Replacement of the engine block, piston and liners will cost $2500++. He started my bike engine and green coolant spurted from the 2 holes like fountains. Remember, there was no coolant leak when I brought the bike in. Then finally he came to my rattling transmission and said its obsolete. He said using compatible parts will need complete replacement of the clutch and transmission assembly, costing me around $2000 to $3000++.
He added it all up and said repair will cost at least $6000. He said its better to scrap my bike and get a new one. Conveniently a sales person appeared. I put on my puppy dog eyes and told Alex I’m jobless at the moment and can’t afford a new bike. The sales person walked away, Alex rolled his eyes and asked what I wanted to do. I asked if he could just patch the coolant leaks and repair the rattling transmission. He said he can’t repair the leaks but he’ll repair the transmission and said he has the parts.
I came back later to pick up my bike, which was left outside the shop on Upper Serangoon Road. I paid $613.81 for the transmission repair, patched the coolant hole with metal cement, replaced the 3mm tube with one I got from Art Friend, cemented it into the engine block and connected the bleeder hose. On testing the bike, the rattling sound was still there, though not as loud, but the bike’s power was weaker and unable to accelerate as before. However it ran and there was no coolant leak.
The next weekend I brought the bike to Tai Hin and they replaced my clutch assembly, which was worn and not replaced at Mah Pte Ltd. The Tai Hin mechanic showed me Mah replaced my drive belt with a thicker one used for the 300cc model of my bike. Mine is a 200cc model. The thicker belt caused the loss of power to accelerate. Mah Pte Ltd charged me $180 for that wrong belt.
After the repairs and parts replacement at Tai Hin, which costs me $570, including clutch parts and a correct drive belt, my bike ran well again.
I think Mah Pte Ltd offers commission to their service mechanics if they can sell new motorcycles. If so, I think its a bad idea as greed will override professionalism and the customer will suffer.
Avoid Mah Pte Ltd until they address their service issues.
