4 ms·

I recently fell victim to a nasty scam I've never heard about before. Wonder if anyone had similar experiences. Happened in Serbia on a highway. We had an RV o

I recently fell victim to a nasty scam I've never heard about before. Wonder if anyone had similar experiences. Happened in Serbia on a highway. We had an RV on German plates and slept on a gas station there, next to the truckers. Morning comes and the clutch pedal is dead - no resistance when I press it (this is a manual transmission car). Obviously not driveable, and we're not car gurus to debug it. We call the insurance but it's not responding (perhaps because it's Sunday). I find a tow car nearby and ask the guy for help, to which he suggests to tow the car 10km to his garage to investigate. I agree. There they use the debug interface of the car to figure out that we need some part replaced (language is a bit of a barrier now) and quote us 700 EUR + VAT. I agree because we need to drive, and because I cannot contact insurance. After the job is done I ask them for the old part (the replaced one), and they just say it's "software", after which I realize that I was just massively overcharged/defrauded. Later when we discuss the situation with my girlfriend she tells me she's seen that tow car waiting seemingly for us for several hours, which suggests that the clutch damage was perhaps inflicted by the very people that fixed our car. I became scared of the whole situation and decided to not report it to the Serbian police and just leave the country asap (I mean if people cut cables in cars on the highway to get 700 EUR I have very low trust in the local law enforcement).

tapland 8y ago
> If people do crimes, why trust law enforcement? That really helps noone. Report in a nearby larger city. If they don't care they just drop it.
- anonymouzz 8y ago
  Yeah in retrospect I should have done this, but to be fair I was just frightened by the realization of what might have just happened here, and wanted to simply leave the area. Another thing is that I have no proof to distinguish between an overpriced fix and deliberate cable cutting. Now I'm way too far from Serbia to report it.
  - watwut 8y ago
    Not knowing about Serbia specifically, but know about highly corrupt countries. Reporting to police has its own risks, through most likely they will ignore you. Ignore because don't care or ignore because they are friends with perpetrators. Also, it is highly likely they don't talk English enough. With there being no proof, you likely saved yourself pointless frustrating experience. However most likely explanation really is no cut cable, but taking advantage of foreigner with bad luck.
anonserb124 8y ago
As a Serbian expat I would very much avoid putting too much trust in Serbian locals. Sure, there are obviously some nice people but overall it's a very poor, corrupt, and cut-throat country. Serbian doctors have been caught stealing children from hospitals for god's sake.
- JohnWilcox 8y ago
  Wait. This does not make sense. My commie indoctrination tells me that all humans are all the same everywhere at all times and there is no difference between any human regardless of reality.
- anonymouzz 8y ago
  Learned this the hard (but not too hard) way. Also I hold no grudge against Serbian people in general - had some great Serbian friends in the US, they made fantastic barbecue. I'd sooner blame the general state of the country.
  - ataturk 8y ago
    Except you don't know what the barbecue was made of!
mrhappyunhappy 8y ago
Count your lucky stars it wasn’t worse than it was. A terrible scam indeed “tow it to my shop” should have set off a flag but I can totally understand your desire to just get going again. Sorry to hear about your terrible experience, it could have happened to anyone really, myself included. Try not to lose sleep over it and be extra careful from now on.
- anonymouzz 8y ago
  Thanks! I've checked off the lost cash as an expensive lesson and am at peace. Hopefully someone else can benefit from knowing this story.
- pathseeker 8y ago
  >A terrible scam indeed “tow it to my shop” should have set off a flag Curious, why is this a red flag? Lots of small towns have combined tow-service/mechanic shops.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
wahern 8y ago
> she tells me she's seen that tow car waiting seemingly for us for several hours FWIW, at least in the U.S. it's common for tow truck operators to wait alongside various roads. Breakdowns are predictable and service is faster if the operator is already nearby. It's not like the driver has anything better to do during his shift. That doesn't mean you weren't overcharged or even scammed. Really can't say without more information.
- anonymouzz 8y ago
  Yeah the cable cutting is just a conjecture, have no evidence for that. Overpriced repair - pretty sure about that one.
  - ams6110 8y ago
    Most clutches are hydraulic, not cable-operated. There will be a bleed valve under the car which can be opened with a wrench, causing the symptoms you experienced. Would take an experienced scammer maybe a minute to do.
- dmux 8y ago
  It's also common for towing companies to show up to the scene of an accident before police arrive with hopes of convincing those in the accident their vehicles need to be towed for some reason or another. Canada has even gone as far as implementing new laws to prevent this.
exoesquitur 8y ago
If the clutch pedal was seemingly disconnected, that would be due to a loosened flare nut or a backed off cable end/clamp/adjustment. Likely Wouldn't even show up on a diagnostic scan (except possible low clutch hydraulic fluid). They likely sabotaged your vehicle.
AYBABTME 8y ago
This is a common scam on tourist in many poorer areas of the world, on all continents. Happens too sometimes on rentals (car/scooter/truck/wtv) with collusion by the rental company.
ataturk 8y ago
Clutches are still manual affairs--they use hydraulics and have a master cylinder and a slave cylinder. If either one goes bad, you can't shift using the clutch anymore. There's historically no "software" involved at all. If the clutch won't work it's a mechanical failure or fluid loss. Fast forward to 2018: If the "debug interface" (OBD type deal) on the car is in the mix, it means the clutch system is electronically monitored. Assuming this wasn't a scam, it is possible that the car monitors hydraulic pressure in the clutch system and a software issue was causing it to falsely report that the pressure was zero and so it disables the whole mechanism to prevent damage. That's pretty sophisticated, but entirely possible in a larger, newer vehicle. In order to fix the problem, they applied a software update and then everything was fine again. Not sure you got scammed. In my BMW, I had a bad O2 sensor that wasn't producing a code and it took the BMW mechanics four weeks to solve the issue of an intermittently bad sensor. They replaced a ridiculous number of components before calling in an Audi mechanic who actually had decent troubleshooting skills and found the $50 part that was actually at fault. I got to keep the new fuel pump, transmission, wiring harnesses, etc. Thanks BMW!

tapland 8y ago

> If people do crimes, why trust law enforcement? That really helps noone. Report in a nearby larger city. If they don't care they just drop it.

anonymouzz 8y ago
Yeah in retrospect I should have done this, but to be fair I was just frightened by the realization of what might have just happened here, and wanted to simply leave the area. Another thing is that I have no proof to distinguish between an overpriced fix and deliberate cable cutting. Now I'm way too far from Serbia to report it.
- watwut 8y ago
  Not knowing about Serbia specifically, but know about highly corrupt countries. Reporting to police has its own risks, through most likely they will ignore you. Ignore because don't care or ignore because they are friends with perpetrators. Also, it is highly likely they don't talk English enough. With there being no proof, you likely saved yourself pointless frustrating experience. However most likely explanation really is no cut cable, but taking advantage of foreigner with bad luck.

anonserb124 8y ago

As a Serbian expat I would very much avoid putting too much trust in Serbian locals. Sure, there are obviously some nice people but overall it's a very poor, corrupt, and cut-throat country. Serbian doctors have been caught stealing children from hospitals for god's sake.

JohnWilcox 8y ago
Wait. This does not make sense. My commie indoctrination tells me that all humans are all the same everywhere at all times and there is no difference between any human regardless of reality.
anonymouzz 8y ago
Learned this the hard (but not too hard) way. Also I hold no grudge against Serbian people in general - had some great Serbian friends in the US, they made fantastic barbecue. I'd sooner blame the general state of the country.
- ataturk 8y ago
  Except you don't know what the barbecue was made of!

mrhappyunhappy 8y ago

Count your lucky stars it wasn’t worse than it was. A terrible scam indeed “tow it to my shop” should have set off a flag but I can totally understand your desire to just get going again. Sorry to hear about your terrible experience, it could have happened to anyone really, myself included. Try not to lose sleep over it and be extra careful from now on.

anonymouzz 8y ago
Thanks! I've checked off the lost cash as an expensive lesson and am at peace. Hopefully someone else can benefit from knowing this story.
pathseeker 8y ago
>A terrible scam indeed “tow it to my shop” should have set off a flag Curious, why is this a red flag? Lots of small towns have combined tow-service/mechanic shops.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

wahern 8y ago

> she tells me she's seen that tow car waiting seemingly for us for several hours FWIW, at least in the U.S. it's common for tow truck operators to wait alongside various roads. Breakdowns are predictable and service is faster if the operator is already nearby. It's not like the driver has anything better to do during his shift. That doesn't mean you weren't overcharged or even scammed. Really can't say without more information.

anonymouzz 8y ago
Yeah the cable cutting is just a conjecture, have no evidence for that. Overpriced repair - pretty sure about that one.
- ams6110 8y ago
  Most clutches are hydraulic, not cable-operated. There will be a bleed valve under the car which can be opened with a wrench, causing the symptoms you experienced. Would take an experienced scammer maybe a minute to do.
dmux 8y ago
It's also common for towing companies to show up to the scene of an accident before police arrive with hopes of convincing those in the accident their vehicles need to be towed for some reason or another. Canada has even gone as far as implementing new laws to prevent this.

exoesquitur 8y ago

If the clutch pedal was seemingly disconnected, that would be due to a loosened flare nut or a backed off cable end/clamp/adjustment. Likely Wouldn't even show up on a diagnostic scan (except possible low clutch hydraulic fluid). They likely sabotaged your vehicle.

AYBABTME 8y ago

This is a common scam on tourist in many poorer areas of the world, on all continents. Happens too sometimes on rentals (car/scooter/truck/wtv) with collusion by the rental company.

ataturk 8y ago

Clutches are still manual affairs--they use hydraulics and have a master cylinder and a slave cylinder. If either one goes bad, you can't shift using the clutch anymore. There's historically no "software" involved at all. If the clutch won't work it's a mechanical failure or fluid loss. Fast forward to 2018: If the "debug interface" (OBD type deal) on the car is in the mix, it means the clutch system is electronically monitored. Assuming this wasn't a scam, it is possible that the car monitors hydraulic pressure in the clutch system and a software issue was causing it to falsely report that the pressure was zero and so it disables the whole mechanism to prevent damage. That's pretty sophisticated, but entirely possible in a larger, newer vehicle. In order to fix the problem, they applied a software update and then everything was fine again. Not sure you got scammed. In my BMW, I had a bad O2 sensor that wasn't producing a code and it took the BMW mechanics four weeks to solve the issue of an intermittently bad sensor. They replaced a ridiculous number of components before calling in an Audi mechanic who actually had decent troubleshooting skills and found the $50 part that was actually at fault. I got to keep the new fuel pump, transmission, wiring harnesses, etc. Thanks BMW!