midas atlantic city nj ..mk midas attempted to replace left axel damaging part that slipped into transmission. they sent ti to trans shop this began june 8,2011. as of august 13 not repaired .. $1000, put into this so far, Internet

Hi angie.  Bet you didnt think Id find this.  This is Gary from Goodeal Transmissions.  I would like to set the record straight. Im usually quite diplomatic and polite, but in instances like this, I find it better to "tell it like it is" rather then sugar coat it!  First off, your car (a 1996 Ford Escort) is a wreck, and needed a lot of repairs.  The problem Midas encountered when installing an axle in your car that you NEEDED was not because of their workmanship, but because your car has 180,000 miles on it and the shim which holds the spider gear in place was worn out.  We explained this to you when the car initially came here.  In order to fix this, the transmission needed to be removed and opened to replace the worn out shim.  Midas could not have known that this was going to happen prior to installing the axle, as the axle was the only thing holding the gear in place.  Any other transmission shop would have sold you a complete transmission overhaul costing in the neighborhood of $1700.00 due to the excessive mileage on your car.  However, Midas told us that you were a good customer and asked for a favor.  At which point we agreed to fix the problem at our cost of $500.00 for parts and labor, and to boot, they even paid for half of that.  Another shop would have taken you for one hell of a ride, and to be honest, after reading your letter, IM sorry I did you the favor.  It wasnt worth the aggrevation.  You should feel blessed that you were at a repair shop run by reputable people who helped you as much as they did.  As for my shop, well, I am sorry it took 3 weeks to fix your car.  However, this is an extremely busy shop thats been in business for 20 years and we currently have a three week back log of work. As well, we have bills and salaries to pay and to be quite honest, Im not putting the "charity work" before the paying customers.  As the manager here, I have a responsibilty to my employees, our creditors, and the owners to make this a profitable business.  That is what they pay me to do.   If you couldnt wait for us to fix it, you always had the option of taking your car elsewhere.  Most of the time you were without your car was because YOU procrastinated fixing it, and were more interested in casting blame on Midas rather then taking responsibility for the repairs YOUR vehicle needed.  As you feel it necessary to tell other people to "run" from us and Midas, I feel it necessary to please ask you not to come back.  I really cant stand people who blame every problem they have on their car on "the last guy who worked on it" especially when the last guy who worked on it did everything they could to help you out.  In closing, Id like to give you a little advice.  If you dont want to dump a lot of money into a car, buy a new one.  Your car is way up there in age and mileage, and it has problems.  Youre also going to encounter more problems with it in the near future due to the age and mileage.  Whatever you decide to do, as long as you own a car (any car) its your responsibilty to maintain it and fix it.  You cant blame everyone else for your misfortunes. 


Gary

PS - Your "check engine" light is on.  It doesnt say check transmission; its pretty self explanatory. 

To whom it may concern, regarding Ms. Gillice's car. We were attempting to install two axles into her 1997 Mercury Tracer with over 180,000 miles on it. When we removed the left axle a gear inside the transmission dropped. I immediately called a transmission shop and ask for their advice. I was told that in some cases it can be reinserted into place with a magnet. We were not successful with this, so I had car towed to the transmission shop at no charge to customer. The transmission shop stated that they had to remove the transmission and repair it. The estimate was $500.00 which in a good faith offer I agreed to pay towards the repair.  The customer had car towed back to her house where it sat for many weeks. After an extended period of time and many phone calls , emails  with the customer and her daughter the car was taken back to the transmission shop for repair. Thge cost was $500.00 which I agreed to pay $250.00. I feel that I did everything possible to help the customer with this unfortunate situation. I have responded to every email from customer and her daughter. I have all of her letters, emails and have responded to her every time. Other shops would have blown the customer and the situation off. I feel that I handled it in a profesional way.  Mike Buschhoff