Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Complaint 125803 Details

My 87-year old husband and I are visiting Philadelphia and were walking along Christopher Columbus Blvd. from our motel, Comfort Inn. We were on our way to GiGis Restaurant on Market Street. A driver of a DOT van insisted that we get into his van and he would take us to our destination. We were unfamiliar with the city, but knew we were quite close to our destination. I asked him how much we would owe him and he said "not too much and not too little". We had to insist that he let us out on Market Street, our destination, and he drove us 6 to 7 blocks beyond and was annoyed at the amount of money my husband gave him. He honked his horn and made my husband give him more money and honked again and demanded more money. We should not have gotten in his van, but it definitely had DOT and numbers on the side to give us every indication he was legitimate.

The monetary amount is insignificant, but this man was preying on two elderly people who had to find our way back to our hotel in a very unfamiliar city. We don't want it to happen to others.

I'm sorry I did not get the numbers written on the van, but we were very upset and I did not have a pen. This man is dangerous to elderly people and needs to be stopped. Monetary value is not an issue, we just want his employer to know his scam. This happened at approximately 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. on June 14.