Lincoln Park Costco parking lot scam alert !

I was shopping at the Lincoln Park Costco early this past summer and came out to discover that my car would not start. Plenty of power to the lights, horn and radio but the starter was totally dead.
After calling home my wife came with tools and jumper cables. As we attemped to start the car I was approached with an offer of help by a guy who claimed that he was a recent graduate of Lincoln Tech and was waiting for his wife who worked at Cosco. Under the car he goes and after 15 minutes of mechanical endeavor the car fires up to the delight of all involved.
As I thank this mechanical good samaritan for his help he asks me if I could give him $50 or $60 bucks. A bit taken aback at his request I tell him that all of my cash was spent at Costco and give him my last $10.

Flash forward 6 months. I come out of Costco last week and guess what ? You got it ! dead car. I raise the hood hook up the cables and wait. The woman parked in front of me returns to her car and as I'm hooking up the jumper cables a guy appears out of nowhere and says that hes waiting for his wife who works at Costco and as luck would have it he just graduated from Lincoln Tech ! under the car he goes and after 20 minutes of mechanical theatrics, which this time included the dance of the skinned knuckle and a near blinding of one eye by an oil leak my trusty old van is running again.
"This ever happen to you before?" he says after asking for his standard fee. "You bet" says I. After a brief discussion (and a few laughs!) we both decided that it was probably time for him to find a new lot to work.

So, if you find your self in this situation at the LP Costco and a friendly African American male dressed like a mechanic offers to help, let him have at it and enjoy the show...just don't pay him.

Have you reported these shenanigans to Costco?

Is the man actually somehow causing people's cars to need a jumpstart, or is he just hanging around waiting for it to happen?

Hi,

My feeling he is responsible for the break as well as the repair. Why not call the police?

***

I was at the gas station at Super Walmart in Waukegan a few weeks ago. A homeless person claiming to be from Minnesota needed an extra $10 to catch a bus home. He said all the right things except the one an honest person would do: he never once offered to return my money. The theatrical nature of his query was interrupted when my passenger opened the door and shooed him away.

Regards,

geli wrote:Is the man actually somehow causing people's cars to need a jumpstart, or is he just hanging around waiting for it to happen?

Is the Pope a Catholic?

Cathy's absolutely right - this is a fairly common scam that used to be spelled out on the Evanston Police Department's website. Another version is that they do half the repair and then tell you it's going to cost more because it took longer/used more parts, etc.

Thanks for the heads-up, though - the best think to keep people on the up-and-up is making sure nobody is a victim.

Regarding the request for money for bus fare/train fare/cab fare because some guy's wife is in labor, etc....

I saw a great presentation by a Chicago cop who said the best response in cases like this is some variation of, "My brother/husband/wife/sister/father is a cop. Give me just a minute to call him/her [or wake him/her up from a nap] and I know he/she would be happy to drive you where ever you need to go."

I've tried it a few times and it works like a charm!

It sounds like the Lincoln Techie guy is disconnecting the hot wire to the starter and then simply reconnecting it after making enough fuss to act like he's done some work. Hopefully he doesn't leave his victims in a lurch because the car will never start until someone traces down the disconnect and reattaches everything properly. A possible tow and troubleshooting fee to a real garage could cost someone $100, depending on the garage.