A Prominent Scam - The Life of a Hotel Doctor
In thickly accented English, an Israeli guest at the Luxe in Beverly Hills explained that
he was in the US for six weeks and needed a disabled parking pass.That's not something I handle, but he added that he had the Department of Motor
Vehicles form. All he needed was my signature. I offered to come to the hotel, but – even at half my usual fee – he didn't want to pay. I could have politely withdrawn, but he might ask the hotel to recommend another doctor, never a good idea. As I do when it's an easy service, I told him that, provided he were genuinely disabled, I would sign the form gratis if he came to my apartment.After hanging up, I felt uneasy. Eleven percent of Los Angeles cars have a disabled
parking pass; it's clearly a scam, and I didn't want to add to it. What if I had to refuse him? When guests complain after I refuse narcotics, hotel management takes this with a grain of salt, but a parking pass….When I went to the door an hour later, I was relieved to see he had only one leg. So I
signed.