A California woman says she was approached in the parking lot of Whole Foods by a “mobile mechanic” with an interesting personality and business strategy. Here’s how she says he did.

TikTok creator Erin Iveson (@eriniveson) posted a video that details the entire bizarre saga.

“Today I was swindled, cheated, conned at my local Whole Foods,” she says. “Let me paint this picture for you.”

Iveson says she was pulling into a parking spot at Whole Foods when a guy in a "beat-up, old truck" waved her down.

“He was like, ‘I do mobile body work. I saw that you have a huge dent and a scratch on the side of your car,’” Iveson says.

‘Mobile Body Work’ Mechanic Approaches Woman At Whole Foods

Iveson says that scratch-and-dent combo was caused by her hitting her friend's truck.

"My car is currently in lemon law," she says. "It slams on the brakes randomly. [The scratch and dent are] something that I want to get taken care of, but also, my car is in lemon law, so I'm going to be turning it in soon anyway.”

She says the man offered to repair the dent and scratch right there in the parking lot and wouldn't take her initial "no" for an answer. She says she parked the car where the man directed her and waited for him to park his ramshackle truck and return with his tools.

Iveson says she watched as the man got his tools out, attached a suction cup to the dent, and went to work. She was then startled when, after a few seconds, he asked her to get into the vehicle and hit the brakes.

"So, I put on the brakes, and he's pulling, pulling, pulling, and I hear a pop,” she says. "So, I think he's doing real work—and then he gets out the mallet. He's telling me, 'Turn your wheel all the way to the right. Turn your wheel all the way to the left.' It's bam, bam, bam. My entire car is shaking," she says.

Gallery: Home mechanic garage ruled legal

5

How Did The Mobile Dent Repair Turn Out?

Of course, Iveson rolled down her window and asked if everything was OK. "He's like, 'All good, mamas,'” she says. “He keeps calling me 'mamas.'"

She says the situation got even more intense when the man started yelling for a "Samantha," who turned out to be his wife. The woman approached Iveson about payment, and the two exchanged phone numbers, she says. Iveson adds that she was still in the car when she sent the $300 payment.

"I go out to my car," she says. "It looks worse than it did before."

As evidence, Iveson adds a photo of the damage before and a video of what her car looks like now. The area is now missing more paint and looks like, well, like it was hit repeatedly with a rubber mallet. 

In the comments section of the video, viewers said they couldn't believe how bad the results turned out to be.

"When I tell you my jaw dropped when I saw those photos," one viewer wrote. 

"Whyyyyy did you pay before you saw how bad it was? Girrrrlll," a second person wrote.

"You need to start trusting your instincts and see those red flags the first time," a third person said. "Becasue there were like 50 in this story."

Mobile Body Work: Is It Safe?

Mobile body repair operations are a legitimate alternative to traditional auto body shops. Mechanics who do mobile work can repair minor dents and scratches like the one that Iveson showed in her “before” picture. 

A lot of people use these services because they like having someone come to them more than taking their car into a shop. There are also cons, including the fact that mobile mechanics don’t have a facility equipped with every tool and shelter in case of rain. That means mobile body shops can’t do every job, and, in some cases, they won’t be able to operate at all.

Unfortunately, not every mobile body work service is reputable, and apparently some less than savory businesses are operating in California. A person posted to r/orangecounty three years ago to warn other people about a “scam” that sounds incredibly similar to what Iveson went through.

“Don’t be a lazy dummy and check for a business reference like Google or Yelp before paying for these services," the person wrote.

Motor1 contacted Iveson via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also contacted Whole Foods parent company Amazon for comment via email. This story will be updated if they respond.

 

 

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