CHICAGO -- A 35-year-old man alleges an auto dealership in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Ill., scammed him out of $629.

Will Zellnerof Lisle, Ill., said a advertised job at Arlington Nissan appeared so promising that he agreed to pay $629 for training materials, only to then be fired after only two weeks at the dealership, the Chicago Tribune said Monday.

Zellner said his dismissal came before he could finish the 90-day probationary period at the dealership and receive a refund of his payment.

"I've had a number of jobs in the past and I've never had to put any money down for training," he said. "The whole thing from the beginning was just smoke and mirrors."

"I think they're looking for people who are desperate for work in a crappy economy and they're taking advantage of it," Zellner added, the Tribune reported.

Bob Rohrman, whose company owns the dealership, said the training payment is customary in the auto industry.

"It's worth our time, our management time, to have them train (employees) for a week rather than have us training them," he told the Tribune, referring to the agency his company uses for training purposes.

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