Cottman transmission ripoff do work you do not need and still make you pay Antioch California

My boyfriend and I have been going to this shop for years and we have never had any problems. I just thought I'd let others know. Normally when you see this many rebuttals on a company at this website, it is more than likely that of the same individual who posted the complaint coming in with alias names.

John, I guess I wasn't clear. I was using an example of a timing belt breaking and it causing more damage to your motor. I did not say the failure of your transmission would cause damage to your motor. I was trying to explain, that you don't wait until a part breaks to replace it. I was trying to explain that when your worn shaft or other parts break in your transmission, it could do more damage to your transmission.

And, one more time, John, if you want a refund, return the product.

The fact is you did not do diagnostic test on my car. Your mechanic took my car for a ride and I was told that the problem was the transmission.

You rebuilt the transmission and the problem was still there. When I brought it back I was told it was a drivability issue. What kind of crap is that?

You also guessed as to when my transmission was going to wear out. I was told that the parts were worn but did not warrant replacement.

The transmission you rebuilt in my car has completely failed and according to your own words there might be additional cost because it may have caused damage to the engine. (a few thousand dollars)

Do you want the parts back because you know there is nothing wrong with them?

My 2003 Monte Carlo is worth at least $15,000.00 is sitting in my driveway collecting cobwebs.

I am not trying to get anything for free.

I tried to bring my car to a professional I thought I could trust.

Instead I got a faulty rebuilt transmission that I didn't need in the first place.

At this point I don't think it would be a wise decision to have you work on my car.

First of all I want to clarify, I am the owner. No one was trying to lie about that. An employee posted the previous two rebuttals and evidently it puts my name automatically because the shop e-mail is under my name. His name was put on it, however it still came up as Helen. I have tried to stay out of this, but I feel have no choice but to clarify a few things.

John, your last comment about me saving parts from all the transmissions is why I am now getting involved. You have the parts. You requested the parts when you picked up your vehicle and as per the BAR regulations we gave them to you. When the BAR came to our shop, they were carrying them in an ice chest. So, not sure why you made such a ridiculous comment. If the customer does not request their parts, they are thrown away.

You have made it clear from the beginning that you would settle for nothing less than a full refund. We have offered to give you that refund. However, the product is to be returned. When you purchase a product from a retail store and decide a few days later that they sold you something you didn't need or you just decided you don't want it, you go back to the store with the product in hand. You don't walk in empty handed and demand your money back.

I said I would gladly refund your money once we removed the transmission, took out the parts we installed, and put your parts back in. I even told the BAR that we would provide a chair for them and have them sit right there through the entire process to ensure everything was done properly.

Everyone that the parts were shown to by the BAR, agrees that your shaft is very worn and will go out very soon.

If you wait until a part breaks in a transmission, then it will do further damage and cost more to repair. It's like a timing belt, you replace it when it becomes worn. Other wise, if you wait until it breaks, in many cases it can cause damage to the engine. Now a few hundred dollar belt replacement turns in to a few thousand dollar replacement to repair the engine. Same with transmissions, you don't wait until the part breaks because it will more than likely do other damage.

You made it very clear you don't want your parts put back in. Then you wanted to just pay for the parts and have us refund the rest of the money. Why would that be John? Are you concerned that some of the parts are bad????

I agreed to give you what you asked for (full refund), but you don't want to return the product.

Not only were some of your parts bad, but we also put in several upgrades that were not available at the time your transmission was manufactured. We also installed all new solenoids. There is a thing called "insurance betterment." You are not entitled to a better product than what you started with. But, that's what you want. You want the rebuilt transmission with the upgrades for FREE.

Then when we did not agree to you just paying for the parts, your issue was that you did not want to deal with us anymore. So, I made arrangements for another transmission shop in town to do the work. I told the BAR that not only would he be there through the process, but so would someone from my shop to ensure it was done properly.

So, what do you do John? You go down to that shop and start saying to them, Do you really want to get involved cause there's going to be a lawsuit, etc. And, you also tried to talk them into putting in good parts in instead of your old parts. Again, John, why would that be? Why are you afraid to have your old parts put back in? Is it because you know they're bad, Or is it just because you want to get a product for free.


Then, your torque converter allegedly failed. I say allegedly, because I haven't seen it. It may very well have. I have had no problems with our torque converters since I opened. However, I have had 3 fail in the last 2-3 months. Yours will make number 4. In fact I have been in contact with my parts distributor regarding this very issue. I have a right to get that torque converter and send it back to my distributor. If this is in fact the 4th to fail, I want some compensation from them for my losses. Everyone that fails, costs me a lot of labor time. But, the parts distributor won't take yours or my word for it. They have to see it.

The torque converter failure is not my fault and it's not your fault. So, as I assured the BAR, that would be part of restoring your vehicle to the original condition as when it came in. Obviously the transmission will have to be completely gone through to remove the fine metal from the torque converter,the valve body completely gone through and another torque converter installed.


But, again, you don't want to do that. You want your money back and a rebuilt transmission for free.

You allege we ripped you off. The only way I can clear my name is to restore the vehicle to the original condition and then when the shaft and other parts fail in 2-3 months, you can pay a shop to rebuild it. But, you won't give me the opportunity to clear my name. You want your money back, and you want me to pay for a rebuild, etc etc. You want a better product than you started out with for FREE!

Now you're driving your truck with a sign on the back saying we are a rip off. One of my vendors told me about it. Again, you want to allege all of these things, but you will not give me the opportunity to clear my name.

You need to cease and desist. That is Trade Libel.

I will gladly refund all of your money as soon as you return the product.

John, I have overcome every objective that you have had. But, you always find some other reason not to let us put your old parts back in.

yes she is right i do not want to pay 2972.15 for a opinoin that was wrong.she should have admitted her shop was wrong in the first place and not had all the extra expences after her shops work went wrong. I also do not think some one that has already taken my car to another shop to diagnose a problem that her shop could not find competent to work on my car again oh ya Helen do you always leave parts laying around till the warranty runs out just so you have the optoin to put them back WHEN YOUR WORK GOES BAD most peolpe throw the old parts away and back their work. I do not think I am asking to much for you to fix my car and give me my money that you cost me with your misdiagnosis in the first place

How can you do a diagnostic road test without the use of a scanner? This would have shown Cottman the issue was in the exhaust, NOT the transmission. I'm betting the catalytic converter was clogging up. It's very common on the M/C and Malibus. When the ECM detects a heavy load(deep pedal and slow speed), it will cause the line pressure to increase in your transmission, causing a longer shift. They call it "adaptive pressure" or something like that. I don't do transmissions, so my jargon may not be correct.

Cottman's answer to your shift complaint was to take you for a ride. If you had come into my shop, I would have scanned the vehicle, test driven it, and told you it wasn't the transmission. As I said, the "cats" are notoriously bad on some models, and yours is one of them. If you didn't trust my diagnostic(nobody likes being told the problem isn't what they think it is), you could have taken your car to someone else. I'd have charged you $45.

Instead, you pretty much paid thousands for nothing, and all because Helen doesn't understand her job...or does she? In any case, Joe is right as usual, and Helen IS an employee. The owner is ALWAYS an employee.

I don't understand the whole issue here, but I think Helen should refund ALL of John's money. Her misdiagnosis is the ONLY issue here. I don't undersatnd what the rest of John's claims are(rental car, dealership transmission, new car purchase, ham sandwich, etc) but he does deserve getting his money back from Cottman for a job NOT done.

I notice this happened in California. Must be the water.

Heres more information on the report that John fails to acknowledge #1 John did not come to us for a diagnostic. He came in for Our opinoin of his Transmission operation. John went to the B.A.R (Bureau of Automatic Refunds)A case was filed as we all know we offered a partial refund $800.0 Which was refused so we pressed on with the B.A.R for resoulution of this case.

What was offered was we put back, Johns old parts back into his transmission and return it to what it was when it came in. WE THEN WERE GOING TO REFUND THE INTIRE AMOUNT.The B.A.R was floored when we offered this they have never seen this before. John had refused this as well without going into great detail.

WHY? BECAUSE JOHN DOES NOT WANT THE OLD PARTS PUT BACK IN TRANSMISSION WHY? BECAUSE THERE BAD. the B.A.R agreed that the parts were bad as well as shops they took them to for an opinoin.Mainly the 4th shaft which in short time would have failed John would then Have to have The Transmission rebuilt.

John originally wanted us to give a full refund this is before the Transmission converter failure??? since we have not seen the tranmission to varify this? Here say at this point.as of now the B.A.R has closed the case due to are finel offer stands at Retuning all Johns old parts back in his Transmission A tow Fee a couple days of rental car fees and a full refund.

Since transmission supposedly failed we were to install a reman tourqe converter at no charge because the original one was turned in as a core. JOHN REFUSED AGAIN.it was real simple we wanted are parts and materials back we put into Transmission.

John could then drive the car till shaft failed and then take to whoever to deal with the Trans.
If John had purchased a TV and wanted his money back? He would have to return the TV. same with us we wanted our parts back. and the parts that John now does not want back would have went back
in his Trans. B.A.R could not go on with case any more John just to unreasonable case in hand John now Expects us to pay him for the following

Original bill $2927.15
Rental car which we allready agreed to $30.65
A diagnistic fee from Chevy Dealer $172.50
A tow fee $85.0
All of the above we agreed to as finel offer with B.A.R but wait!!! Theres more.
Another rental car fee? $236.18
Another tow fee $85.0
Replacement Transmission from dealer $3200.0
His insurance for his car $144.90
His pruchase of a Honda accord?? 1100.0
his reg fee for Honda $47.00
The Smog fee for the Honda. $65.0
His Insurance for his Honda $46.40
Total $8139.78
Since John such a nice guy!! he has agreed to drop this to Only $6881.38 if we pay him in 30 days.

My car is now broke down and chevy dealer said it needs a new transmission and it will coast 3200.00 Cottman only wants to put my old parts back. But I thought say said they were bad. Time to call the man.

Hi john, The problem now is the shop has aleady spent the money with the home office in franchise fees/etc. small claims is your best bet at this point 800 is not all but it is admitting a problem with their job. THE TRANZMN

They forgot to tell you that when I got the car Rob gave me a print out of codes that the dealer had to change because of the new shifting spects. I called him from the dealer to tell him that they would not do his request because the codes were safty issues. And the dealer was only one mile away from Cottmans shop.

So it didn't take long for me to call him back.After the B.A.R. talk to them they still only want to give me alittle over $800.00 back and no warranty. On the work at all.What does that say of there work. And the problem was diagnosed by another shop not cottman and the dealer fixed it FOR FREE under the 8 year 80,000 miles warranty. And the technical problem was they broke the pan by tighting the bolts to tight.

They forgot to tell you that when I got the car Rob gave me a print out of codes that the dealer had to change because of the new shifting spects. I called him from the dealer to tell him that they would not do his request because the codes were safty issues. And the dealer was only one mile away from Cottmans shop.

So it didn't take long for me to call him back.After the B.A.R. talk to them they still only want to give me alittle over $800.00 back and no warranty. On the work at all.What does that say of there work. And the problem was diagnosed by another shop not cottman and the dealer fixed it FOR FREE under the 8 year 80,000 miles warranty. And the technical problem was they broke the pan by tighting the bolts to tight.

They forgot to tell you that when I got the car Rob gave me a print out of codes that the dealer had to change because of the new shifting spects. I called him from the dealer to tell him that they would not do his request because the codes were safty issues. And the dealer was only one mile away from Cottmans shop.

So it didn't take long for me to call him back.After the B.A.R. talk to them they still only want to give me alittle over $800.00 back and no warranty. On the work at all.What does that say of there work. And the problem was diagnosed by another shop not cottman and the dealer fixed it FOR FREE under the 8 year 80,000 miles warranty. And the technical problem was they broke the pan by tighting the bolts to tight.

They forgot to tell you that when I got the car Rob gave me a print out of codes that the dealer had to change because of the new shifting spects. I called him from the dealer to tell him that they would not do his request because the codes were safty issues. And the dealer was only one mile away from Cottmans shop.

So it didn't take long for me to call him back.After the B.A.R. talk to them they still only want to give me alittle over $800.00 back and no warranty. On the work at all.What does that say of there work. And the problem was diagnosed by another shop not cottman and the dealer fixed it FOR FREE under the 8 year 80,000 miles warranty. And the technical problem was they broke the pan by tighting the bolts to tight.

Helen: As you know, but the people here don't know but your response That you "are" the owner not an employee. 1ST LIE!!!

I'm sure by the original complaint not solved the root cause for the malfunction was a vacuum issue possibly caused by an exhaust gas recirculation valve/ broken vacuum hose or something along those lines. As the computer gets the incorrect information and compensates by raising TRANZMISSION line pressure to cause the trans to shift late or when you take your foot off the throttle it shifts rough but does shift.

This just goes back to the parts changer mentality (change enough parts and it may go away)

SORRY JOHN!!! you spent good money on the wrong shop/problem. As you probably know by now smog failures are covered up to 100'000 miles to the original owner. I'm sure helen knows this but just forgot to give the right advice to you. She's been the owner for more than a year.

See John if she told you this, you would still have your money and the problem that caused it all would have been free and under warranty. SORRY!!!

The B.A.R. should know about this one murphy from the Richmond Ca ofFice of the B.a.R could help you he's an ex (AAMCO) (ALL AUTOMATICS MUST COME OUT)center manager. THE TRANZMN~~~

John had come into our shop with Transmission shift complaint's and concerns on high gear slip complaint.4th Road test of vehicle revealed a Long 3/4 shift. Customer was then explained and shown in blow up pictures of the inside of his Transmission as to common and problem area's of This model of transmission such as forth shaft spline problems and 4th clutch problems. Customer was quoated RDI/TD/EST which is the proper California Bureau of automotive proceedure for complex repairs such as Transmission.

This estimate is in simple terms the Remove and Replace labor on this Vehicle allmost 9 hr's the customer was then informed when the transmission is disassembled the exact problems as well as cost will given and different warranty options. John agreed to this initial estimate. the vehicle arrived on thursday and was dissassebled for inspection on late thursday.

John was informed of teardown findings and went with a 2 year warranty repair.Authorized by Phone, we were informed that customer would not be back till Monday the vehicle would be in our shop a minimum of 4 days as he was going out of town. the repair had some technical problem that required us to keep vehicle till Wednesday delivary Customer had came in and was shown damaged and worn parts Monday afternoon and requested that we give him the parts which we did.

Car was delivered to customer
customer had called back with a compalint of the way the vehicle operates we told him to bring vehicle back the vshicle had some engine performance issues that when first came in not the main complaint as the Transmission shift issue was the customers main comaplint. As a customer curtasy we spent several hours doing Drivability testing and varification of engine performance issues. we then had exhaust flow checks done on car and found resrictive exhaust causing the drivability complaint.

We did not charge the customer and due to the Emissions warranty the exhaust was covered buy the manufactuere. Customer was shown step by step through the intire repair and was charged for the repairs he Agreed to.The customers other issue with vehicle was diagnosed at no charge and fixed under warranty.