This is not really a blog post but more of a draft of a complaint I will be sending into the better business bureau this week.
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009.
9am appointment with Mr. Transmission. A service tech and I took the van for a test drive. He had trouble noticing the transmission slip until half way through the test drive. There was a slight slip between 2nd and 3rd gears.
Manager wrote up a quote for taking out the transmission, diagnosing the problem. $750 dollars. This included the putting the transmission back in the van.
He said he would give me a call to tell me how much it would cost to do the fix the transmission after that.
I had asked him how much a transmission typically costs to repair. He said if we catch it soon enough it shouldn’t be bad.
Thursday, Feb 26 11:00 am
Got a call from Howard the manager. He listed off 20 different parts that needed to be replaced. Then quoted $3000 more to rebuild the transmission. I was shocked. I asked him if he could put the transmission back together, and he said no that it was in pieces.
I told him to hold off on fixing it.
I phoned Honda to find out if I could tow my van to their shop as I was shocked at the cost from Mr. Transmission and upset that I wasn’t warned at the potential cost before he tore my transmission apart. The tech at Honda had to check with the parts manager on availability. He called back 10 mins later, and told me that Mr. Transmission had already ordered a reconditioned transmission for a 2001 Honda Odyssey through the parts department.
I was confused, Mr. Transmission had told me that they were going to rebuild the transmission but Honda said he ordered a completed reconditioned unit.
Honda had originally quoted $3500 but later requoted at $4400, which was much more than Mr. Transmission.
My next option was to call Able Transmission which was recommended by a friend. I told the owner at that shop what was going on with Mr. Transmission, he said he wasn’t surprised. He quoted me over the phone $2500. I accepted and told him that I would have my van towed over to his shop.
I called Mr. Transmission to tell him that we would be moving our van to a new shop, that I was unhappy with the price that he quoted and that he was not upfront with me about the potential costs.
He asked where the van would be towed to. I told him Able Transmission. He said that would be a big mistake. He continued bad mouthing the shop, that it was dirty, and that he could give me the names of 50 people that have gotten ripped off by them. He said I’d be sorry.
I asked him again if he was going to rebuild the transmission or put a reconditioned one in. He said they are rebuilding it.
I worked the math out in my head, pay for Mr. Transmission for the work done to date, to tow the van, and to rent a vehicle for the week, it would have been nearly the same price, but a lot more hassle. I decided that I’ll just get it over with, and have Mr. Transmission do it. Big mistake.
Sunday, March 1.
I had felt uneasy about the whole situation. Howard was supposed to call on Friday to tell me when the van would be ready to take home. He didn’t.
I drove past the shop to see if the Van was outside. It wasn’t, so I peeked in the big window to see if it was inside. I couldn’t see it.
I got in the car and started to drive off when Howard came out. I asked him if we could have a chat about my van. He obliged.
I told him that I was feeling very uneasy about the situation that I felt that he was not upfront with the potential costs. I told him that I felt that he had me over the barrel and that I had no other option but to get the van fixed there. He got upset, said that he had been in business for 30 years, and upset that I was accusing him of not being fair, he went on to say he was disappointed in me.
I had told him that if we would have known that it would have cost that much we would have traded it in on a newer vehicle. He tried to tell me that we would have lost a whole bunch of money trading it in and that would have been a bad idea.
I asked him once more if the transmission was being rebuilt or a reconditioned one was being put in. He said rebuilt in the shop. I told him that I knew that someone from Mr. Transmission had ordered a reconditioned 2001 Odyssey transmission from Honda on Thursday. He looked stunned. He said that they have never ordered a reconditioned unit from Honda in the 30 years he’s been there. He went on to say that he a rebuilt transmission from their shop is far superior to a reconditioned unit from Honda. And went on to say that if we ever had any issue with our transmission in another city while traveling we would have to wait 2 weeks for Honda to fix it.
He said the van would be ready by end of day Tuesday or Wednesday. I asked him why he didn’t phone on Friday. He said he did but no one answered. I both #’s listed have message managers, and then told him that he should know that because he’s left a message on my cell phone. He apologized. I told him to phone me when it’s ready.
I’m not upset so much about the cost at this point. I’m upset at his scare tactics and the blatant lies that he is telling me. This is not how you treat a customer that is about to spend $4000 on your services. He never once apologized or offered a compromise.
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