Mechanic found on Facebook scams car owner with repair cost; BBB warns against online businesses
An Ottawa County couple hired a mechanic on Facebook to fix their car. They say the man ghosted them after fraudulent repairs.
CLAY CENTER, Ohio — Car repairs can be expensive, but imagine paying hundreds of dollars to a mechanic and then realizing it’s a scam.
Last week in Ottawa County, Jeff Iffland and his wife needed help with their car’s starter and posted on Facebook looking for help. They found a man who came out, looked at the car and managed to get it running, but they said only by hitting the starter to temporarily jolt it back to life.
The next day, the car’s starter failed again and the mechanic ghosted them, leaving them out $200 for the repairs.
“At that point, we knew we’d been had,” Iffland said.
He said the mechanic they hired from Facebook offered to take their car to his garage and did.
“He’s like, ‘In my opinion, you don’t need a starter.’ I’m like, well, you’re the mechanic. If you’re saying the starter is good, then I’m going to go with what you say,” Iffland said. “I asked him what we owed him. He said 200 bucks or more. I’m like, you told us $200.”
After the car started, the man collected $200 for fixing the car and left. But that fix didn’t last long and the car didn’t start the next day.
“We had friends come out and do the starter. They said, yeah, he did you dirty,” Iffland said. “He did nothing but beat on the starter to get it to work for a little bit, and they said he never cleaned corroded wires. He never even touched the starter.”
After attempting to reach back out, Iffland realized they had been ghosted and that they weren’t the only ones who fell prey to the same person.
“This guy’s got quite the little habit of going around and doing this to people,” Iffland said. “Some people have said he’s stolen their parts, he’s taken tools. He’s done whatever he needs to do to get some money.”
Lane Montz, the president of the Better Business Bureau in Toledo, warns people to be cautious online.
“I would never want to say that everything on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist is a fraud, because I’m sure that’s not true. However, it is kind of a red flag,” Montz said. “There are a lot of frauds and scams that are on those platforms.”
He said it’s wise to use word-of-mouth recommendations for mobile businesses found online.
“Get a copy of their driver’s license, get a copy of their license plate, take pictures, and then check them out on BBB.org,” Montz said. “Check them out with local authorities. If there’s a license involved, are they licensed? They still have to be licensed even if they’re mobile. So those are things that you can do.”
Montz also said the BBB accredits mobile businesses for honesty and integrity.
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