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Report: #298620

Complaint Review: Aamco Transmissions - Pottstown Pennsylvania

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  • Reported By: Boyertown Pennsylvania
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  • Aamco Transmissions 401 W High St. Pottstown, Pennsylvania U.S.A.

Aamco Transmissions Transmission Degenerates Pottstown Pennsylvania

*Consumer Comment: New Ownership of Pottstown AAMCO would welcome the opportunity to help you ...

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I bought a 1967 Ford Mustang that did not have the original engine or transmission. It was modified for racing then made street legal. I was having trouble with the dipstick tube leaking. I had to keep putting transmission fluid in the vehicle every third or fourth day.

I noticed that the seal around the dipstick tube was not seating properly so I contacted Aamco to see about getting a new one. They happily agreed to help me out. What a nightmare that has been.

I dropped my car off with them to fix and since I was dropping it off i asked for an estimate on a shifter close to original as possible. I also asked them to check over the transmission. When they contacted me, I was told that I needed to have my transmission rebuild. I agreed to have them do it because they do advertise as being transmisswion specialists.

We talked about price, and I was given an estimate of around $800.00. I asked about getting another tarnsmission put in. a used one. I was told that it would be less expensive and a better way to go with rebuilding because I wouldn't know what I was getting with a used one. I told them to rebuild it.

The car has a Hurst Promatic shifter in it but I did not have Aamco do any work replacing that. The estimate was too high. During the work on the transmission I was told by them that a few things were not hooked up and that they couldn't be. My reverse lights, detent cable and neutral safety switch were not connected because whoever put that transmission in butchered it. They said they may be able to hook those things up but I would need to get another shifter and it would have to be modified for them to do the work. I did not want another shifter.

When all was said and done I paid $1339.24 for a dipstick tube and rebuild transmission. I picked the car up and from the moment I drove it off the lot it didn't feel right to me. The shifter was not hooked up right and I had to go down twice to get it into reverse. When I'd be in low gear popping it up into drive it would go straight to neutral. When on the highway doing 55-60 the car would whine like it needed to go into a higher gear. I was afraid that I'd blow it up.

The car also had trouble starting. I'd have to play with the ignition turning the key on and off until the starter would engage and crank over. the car was not and did not perform like that before they worked on it. I noticed that my shifter cable was not hooked up right and two bolts where the transmission gets connected to the engine were justhanging in there. They weren't evened tightened at all.

I went back there a week later because they asked me to bring it in for a weekly check up. I informed them of all of the problems and concerns I had. They knew it was not the original transmission. The person whom i dealt with was Pam. She went out to start it but it would not start. I had to start it. I mentioned that it started fine until you touched it. I told her that my starter is misaligned. Well she did not take the blame for that and said that it was nothing they did. well yes it is because you have to remove the starter to get the transmission out.

She took it for a drive and said it ran fine. I totally disagree with her. I mentioned about the way it shifted and again it was "nothing they did" . That was all blamed on the shifter itself. Well that shifter was working properly before they touched it.

I was very dissatisfied with their work. I did not get adequate responses to my requests and no fault was taken by them. She said that I could leave the car with them and they'd look over it. I refused. I did not trust them because it was worse than before and because they refused responsibility for my problems.

I took it to another shop to have it checked out. What they told me surprised me. I was informed that Aamco should not have touched that transmission. It was not designed for that car or engine. The transmission is designed for fuel injected engines and mine is not fuel injected. They also stated that Aamco should have refused to work on it based on everything that was disconnected. The transmission was too big for that car. They are to be transmission specialists so they should have refused to work on it unless I was getting another transmission put in it.

I really do believe that they were just trying to take someone for money and that someone was me. I have been pursuing a refund of some type for the past few months but to no avail. They are cold, heartless people. I contacted their customer service hotline to file a complaint and demanded a refund. They are a franchise store and a refund is a long shot. To make a long story short and to the point no refund was given.

I next contacted the Better Business Bureau about this and in the letter I received. no refund yet again. I am not going away and I hope Aamco understands this. They ripped me off by performing work on a transmission that they should have refused to work on. I had a 12 month warranty on it which states that its covered the transmission and defective workmanship. The whole job was defective because of how it ran and shifted and started after it left there. Oh, but I forgot...it was nothing they did.

Since then I have had a used transmission put in it costing less than their nothing work. I am getting another shifter installed which was also three times cheaper than what they quoted.

I just wish they would fess up to a bad job they did and return my money. I am looking for a full refund, but would be happy with a partial one. If this goes on longer I may file for suing over stress and hardship issues. The other garage who replaced my transmission also said that they'd help me in any way to get my money back. There is more that I'd like to say about them but I don't want to write those words so I'll end. Whoever reads this DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO ANY AAMCO. They suck!

Mark
Boyertown, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.

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STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, it's paid for!

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/09/2008 09:39 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/aamco-transmissions/pottstown-pennsylvania-19464/aamco-transmissions-transmission-degenerates-pottstown-pennsylvania-298620. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#1 Consumer Comment

New Ownership of Pottstown AAMCO would welcome the opportunity to help you ...

AUTHOR: Doug - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, August 21, 2008

As the new owner of the Pottstown AAMCO (in mid-July 2008) I'd welcome the opportunity to help you out but it sounds like you've already gotten this resolved.

A few comments:

First, please don't assume that yours was a typical AAMCO customer experience - it wasn't.

Second, please don't assume that because a competing trans shop expressed their opinion to you about AAMCO's transmission rebuild and about whether or not that AAMCO should or should not have "touched" your transmission, the fact is that you can have two different mechanics (substitute other skill position - carpenter, doctor, lawyer, etc) look at something, and they can and often do have differing opinions about what needs to be done and/or about what should have been done.

Presuming, however, that the competing trans shops intentions were honorable and weren't meant to fan the flames of your dissatisfaction, and, while the competing trans shop is entitled to their opinion, the fact is that you brought the vehicle to AAMCO and decided to have AAMCO work on only your transmission: not on your Hurst Promatic shifter because the "estimate was too high".

The competing trans shop certainly has every reason to tell you that AAMCO shouldn't have touched your transmission, etc., because if they told you the truth that if you had brought it to them, and told them what you wanted with similar limitations, that you would probably have gotten something similar in terms of the services that were provided.

Third, it seems like they tried to make it right, but because you didn't trust them, you weren't willing to give them that opportunity by leaving the vehicle with them. That is your perogative, but please don't fault them then for not refunding your money. Even if you didn't trust them, you should have at least given them an opportunity to look at what you were accusing them of doing. You posted that they refused responsibility for your problems, but that doesn't sound like what happened. It sounds like you refused to allow them to take responsibility for the problems - a far different thing.

Doug Gregory
Pottstown AAMCO
610-970-1844

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