Italian roadside scam

On stopping he then told us we had clipped his driver's door mirror with our motorhome. On inspection there was a black line the same height as his door mirror on the side of our motorhome

Whilst accepting that his "damaged" mirror is not evidence, how do you account for this.....?

Had you left the van unattended nearby for a period...?

Had they come on site and damaged your van?

Unfortunately, of all the countries we have toured in, Italy is the worst for scams. I have been overcharged at Petrol stations and also been told that my wiper blades needed replacing when they didn’t. It is common for garages to advertise a low price for fuel and you find that it is any one pump only which requires cash or is mysteriously out of order.

We had not left the van unattended, and no damage had occurred on the site.  The van is not damaged as such, as I have been able to polish the marks off.  Thanks for the tip on petrol stations.  I will look out for this.

So how did the black line get on your vehicle.?

We presume that he had something that he stuck out of his window as we went past which created the black line at the same height as his mirror.  

"and he was also on his mobile phone, which points to having someone else nearby."

Do mobile phones only operate very locally in Italy?

I think a couple of you are being unkind to the OP. They were probably frightened and did the best they could in the circumstances. They have also been brave enough to share their experience in the hope that it will help others.

Despite what I sometimes think, this is a club primarily intended to help other people, not a target range for keyboard warriors.

Well said Dunclair

This happened to me yesterday on the motorway to Livorno Italy.

Driving my car solo and passing a BMW there was a bang - put it down to a flying stone.

I'm then chased by the BMW containing a rough looking couple who overtake pointing to their wing mirror.

They pulled in at a lay-by and proceeded  to shout in Italian that I had damaged their wing mirror when I passed them, there was certainly damage to the outside cover on their mirror and on the outside of mine!

Whilst I was explaining the fact to the thuggish man that if there was a collision then my mirror outside would have struck his mirror on the inside (his initial written demand for 500euro then was reduced to 50), his thug partner in tights noticed my dashcam  and promptly raised her bootlid to hide the number plate - too late, they then gave up..

I returned to my car and he very kindly attempted to wave me back onto the motorway directly into the path of a truck!!

Many thanks to originator of this thread for the 'warning' without which I may have paid just to get rid of them - it must have been a jagged metal pole thrust out of their window to make such noise and scratches to my mirror cover