MR. Transmission quoted me one thing then jacked it up 270 percent to actually fix it Atlanta Georgia

On thursday August 21 2008 i was taking my car to United BMW to see about trading it in for a new one as my reverse had stopped working in in my 2000 323i BMW. My car ran fine going forward and showed no sign of slipping or wear going forward. As a matter of course on the way i stopped at a Transmission shop called Mr. Transmission located at 5630 Peachtree Industrial Drive Chamblee GA, 30341 phone number 770-986-2686.

They advertised free diagnostic services on their website www.mrtransmissionatl.com. I figured it would be good to get a professional opinion on my car before going to the dealer so i could give them a definitive description of the problem my car faced. John was at the desk when i entered the shop and i spoke with him about my cars issue of having no reverse. He said that they had fixed these in the past and that he would run his computers on my car to find the problem.

He took my car into the shop to run his tests as i waited. Upon completing the tests he returned to tell me that the pressure in all other gears were fine and that it looked like just reverse was the problem. He also noted that there were no transmission signals on my computer in the car which was a good sign. He then introduced me to the owner of the shop Alan Polson.

Alan told me multiple times that they had seen this before and that the computer diagnostic indicated that it was just reverse and he could fix my transmission and give me a 3 year warranty for $1,300. I asked several times if he was confident that he could do it for that price and he said "yes, trust in me Dan." We will just replace the reverse drum that is broken and be done. They NEVER ONCE told me there was a chance that my bill would escalate to a very high number.

I also repeatedly told them that I had a shop that I trusted that would put a remanufactured transmission in for $3,307. Alan told me why spend that money putting a whole new transmission in when he can fix it $1,300 and make it better than new and give a 3 year warranty.

At that point i weighed my options and decided because transmissions were their specialty to go ahead and have them do the work. I can't stress enough how price conscious i was during the entire process. They continually assured me that this was the way to go. Don't trade it in, they said, they will never give you what its worth, you should fix it for $1,300 and be done with it.

They then ran my credit card for $998 which they said was just an authorization, but later when I called my credit card company they said the transaction had actually gone through. I immediately disputed that charge and that process is going forward. I never received any paperwork from them except my unsigned receipt for $998 from my credit authorization.

Even at this point I stressed to them to how price conscious i was and to call me if anything changed in their evaluation. I left Mr. Transmission feeling like with their years of experience I was in good hands. I left at around 4:00 in the afternoon.

At 12:25pm on August 22 John from Mr. Transmission called me and said that they had completely taken my transmission apart and found additional things wrong with it and my bill now would be either $4,700 or $5,200 depending on which option i chose. He said,"As soon as we took off the pan we saw metal shavings and we knew it was going to be bad." He then went on listing all the parts and their costs. I was in shock.

My estimate was $1,300 how could it jump %270 in a matter of 16 hours. Why did they not call me when they took the pan off and saw shavings that would indicate that more work would be done? There were a million questions going through my head so I told him to stop all work on my car and let me talk to Alan. Alan never called me back but I did call back later and speak with him.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Dan what have done to your car?" trying to make it seem to be my fault that there were other issues. Alan repeated the same list of parts and the price it would take to fix it. I told him to do nothing and that I would get back to him. Immediately I borrowed a friends car and went over to the shop.

Alan was surprised to see me, but then took to my car to show me the parts. My transmission was literally in three different places in the shop. The parts he showed me were mixed with other parts from other cars it was confusing and when i starting to really feel that I was getting hosed. After that we went into his office where Alan and I discussed all the options.

I told him to button it up and give me my car back in the shape that I brought it to him. He said he would but he would keep the $998 and charge me for an assembly kit as well. He never gave me a total on what that all would cost but it was clear he was trying to to steer me into fixing it for $4,700. I called the shop that was giving me the price of $3,307 to find out were they were getting the remanufactured transmission for $2,100 and they gave me the name.

Alan called them and mysteriously his price was more, in fact it added up to just $7 difference from his original quote of $4,700. Afterward I checked with the other shop and they still could get the same tranny from the same place for $2,100. At a loss as what to do and with Alan not wavering or meeting me half way on any part of the process I told him to stop all work until i figured out what to do. I have been baited and switched. They quoted me $1,300 to fix my car and are now holding my car hostage for $4,700. I can't get my car back in the same shape for less than a $1,000.

I find his practices disgraceful and illegal. There were witnesses that heard both John and Alan say that they would fix it for $1,300. Upon doing more research I have found that Alan Polson has newly moved to this location and has had multiple complaints at his old location on Buford Highway in Atlanta.

I want him to put my car back and return it to me the way it was when i brought it in driving fine forward and failing only in reverse I will pay HIS cost for an assembly kit to do so but will not pay any labor. Or he can fix completely for the original $1,300 quote he gave me. Both of these options seem fair to me as a consumer I have rights and deserve to be treated fairly.

Mr.unhappy
atlanta, Georgia
U.S.A.

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