Tempered glass for your phone: Are you being ripped off??

In this world of smart phones, tempered glass is a necessary evil. Gone are the days when the used to be a very plastic film on the screen. As the smart phones have become affordable, screens have become more expensive and prone to more accidental slips from the hand which results in cracks, the tempered is a godsend.... And this is probably also the reason why shopkeepers rip-off the customers when it comes to tempered glass because in contrast to the mobile phone models people don’t care about how much they cost and are easily fooled. 

This is small post is my attempt to make you aware about the pricing, practices followed by shopkeepers so that the next time you visit any mobile shop for a tempered glass for any of your phone at least you are well informed about the pricing and actually bahane in that regard. Please keep in mind that there is is regarding the android phones and I have no knowledge about the super expensive iPhones etc. and all and how to protect them (whether or not they come into the tempered glass category or not). 

Irrespective of what the shopkeeper might say there is nothing as a scratch proof tempered glass. Shopkeepers would actually try to fool you regarding the same by quoting prices anywhere from 250+ to 400 saying that it’s expensive because the tempered glass won’t have any scratches. That’s not true as any good quality tempered glass might avoid scratches for some time in comparison to the standard tempered glass but it would get scratches no matter what. Constant use, keeping in pockets along with other items it’s bound to be scratchy. So the next time you are lured into paying such a high-quality price, back out. 

These tempered glass are one mobile accessory which enjoys a huge, huge margin for the shopkeepers. The normal tempered glass for the mobile phones start as low as 8/- and goes to not more than 20 to 30/- (dealer landing price) which the shopkeepers try to sell for prices ranging from 5 to 100+. So you can see that you are ripped off by such a huge margin. I don’t know about other cities but if you walk into the mobile market of your city you would find tempered glass for as low as Rs. 30 or even 50. If you are someone who unfortunately drops you phone quite a lot and the tempered on your phone takes the brunt everytime, you would slowly notice even the quality of the tempered glass. Years back when I had started to get tempered on my mobile phone the mobile market at Shriram Tower Lucknow used to charge not less than 200 for a tempered glass application. Not knowing the real prize I did pay it for a few times to actually notice that I was being robbed. Later on some mobile phone shops near my home started charging 100 for the same and I thought that I was saving money but even then I was wrong. 

In the mobile phone market of Kanpur (Sager market) I did get tempered for 50, the quality of which was equal to the 100 one. Things changed a bit more when a known shopowner started charging me 80 at the time when I was getting it applied for 100. Prices hit rock bottom when in Lucknow a cybercafe owners whom I had known for now 15 years diversified into mobile phone accessories and he is selling tempered for just 30. There is no quality issue and he is the one who had told me about these huge margins in tempered glass. If you think that I am making up these things then let me give you a true incident sometime back. 

I was looking for a tempered for Redmi Note 3 near my home and had gone to a shop. He quoted me 400 for the tempered and started giving me all that same scratch proof bullshit which I easily countered by my usage experience and insisted whether or not he was ready for 100? He came to 250 and then I decided that I had not much time to waste and simply told him whether to take it or leave it. He said no, I walked out of the store, started my two wheeler and his assistant came running saying, “Okay come come, we are ready for 100”. I refused saying to him that he should have thought this price before the argument wandered into a necessary territory and drove off. 

Another small mistake which we make our which happens when they get hold of any new phone model which has been launched online or which we luckily get to purchase in a flash sale. The tempered of these models take time to actually come into the retail market which can be anywhere from 10 to 15 days at the bare minimum. If you try to get a tempered of the same, the shopowners would say yes and irrespective of the fact that they won’t have the exact tempered would try to fit a close compatible tempered of someone the other phone in order to make a quick buck. Beware of this trend and insist on having the exact tempered model otherwise leave it. The shopkeepers would try to focus on the front camera and try to put the tempered and then say that it’s not exactly corner to corner but that would make do. The choice is yours. Even though companies provide with good quality screen protection with models but they are no match for tempered glass so you should get one on each of your phone but also keep in mind the various price points of this industry so that you are not cheated when you go to get one of these.

The dark side of doctor commissions and the godsend doctors

We have heard about instances where doctors have suggested medicines or shops to patients to earn commissions or goodies. Today I am narrating you one such small incident which happened with me in 2012. So let me take you into this dark side of the medical profession. 

This thing happened in AIIMS Delhi. I suffer from something since birth (I won’t disclose the condition name because it puts me into severe depression every time I think of it because of the kind of sympathy I have seen in people’s eyes). Medical science was not that much advanced in the 1980s so my condition was never diagnosed with the correct name and further the lady doctor who diagnosed it, put me on the wrong treatment so that my condition became bad and never recovered. By the time I figured it out on my own to correct it out it was too late as a body was too developed to undergo any more changes. 

Once I experienced some side of strain in my vertebra so much that it became tough for me to either set straight for a couple of days. Along with my relative when I went to the doctor for follow-up, in a low voice she tugged me on to ask the doctor about any possible treatment for my condition. Having heard “No” so many times from different people I decided against it but the Dr heard me. He asked me what was the matter and reluctantly I told him about my condition. He said to me that there is a probable treatment to this condition and I should see a doctor (specialists are). For the first time in so many decades I actually saw a ray of hope but quickly dismissed it because I didn’t want to be heartbroken once again. Later I went to AIIMS (was residing in Delhi then). Did a bit of research and found a connection to a particular doctor because its a huge institution and its best if you know the doctor whom you want to seek. 

So one day we were outside the OPD even before the official timings and there were no bouncers at that time to regulate the patient count. The doctor hadn’t arrived in yet and we were waiting. Suddenly I saw a man come up to the doctor table and put a visiting card of some sort on his table. That person was doing the same for all the doctors on that floor because the department was the same. After 10 minutes the doctor came, saw me, diagnosed me and handed me over the same card which was lying there saying, “Get the tests done from this place, it’s a good one”. That immediately showed me the true picture of doctors suggesting test centres of whosoever`s card was lying on the table. The cut, commission and everything would be worked out later on. 

I never proceeded with the tests because what the doctor had diagnosed was basic info and nothing specific to my condition. I’ll tell you how and this might stray away from the main topic of this post, the point of which has already been proven but would also show you another side. Having been rejected at India’s biggest medical institution, I really sank but my relative egged me on to try other places too. This time she took me to Gangaram Hospital and even though I don’t remember his name but he nailed my condition within just 30 seconds of me telling him about it. He was so astonished to see me talking, doing all the normal things that he called his batch of junior resident doctors to show me as an example. Would you believe that in his room I was a living subject in front of a group of 10 students (males and females)?. 

When I asked the doctor as to why so many inquiries were being made about me and why everybody was astonished to see me alive and talking, he simply said that the condition which I was suffering from was so dangerous for growth that had it happened the way it usually goes on, I should not have grown up mentally at all ever in the normal course of life. It was my bit of good luck that the thing happened at another place in my body and not where it usually strikes children. So I grew up as any normal child would but with that ailment. He also told me the body system it normally affects. The doctor was specialist in one area but actually had a good knowledge of multiple medical areas. For the first time in my life I actually knew the name of my ailment and decided to go to AIIMS once again but to the specific department with which my ailment dealt, this time. The doctor this time too was quite good and he put me on few medicines which I took for some years and then discontinued because follow-up at AIIMS was not possible later on in the years. 

So you can see that in one post I took you to a journey of both sides of the medical profession and whenever I read about these type of commission scams happening between doctors and MRs , test centres I know that it’s true and its a never ending web. In the present era you are very fortunate to find knowledgeable doctors who know a lot about their and other fields also and even after 7+ years I still thank that Dr at Ganga Ram and my treating doctor at AIIMS for providing me with my correct diagnosis so that I don’t feel disappointed whenever I think about the ailment.