Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My family of six began a trip to Virginia the weekend of July 22, 2022, only to have our transmission in our 2014 Toyota Sienna go out. Thankfully, we were near Greenville, so we were able to limp it into the AAMCO service center on Wade Hampton Blvd. The desk associates said they would diagnose the issue and respond to us before we made our way back home on Sunday. We purchased a rental van to complete our trip, and ended up driving all the way back to Atlanta on Sunday because we had not yet heard from the service center. I called them back on Monday, July 25, and they said that they had not yet diagnosed the issue, but that all parts were at least ten days out. About a week later, they confirmed that I needed a new transmission, and that they would rebuild it on-site for $4,246.34. We agreed, and after much back and forth about a completion date that kept changing to later and later, we drove back to pickup the vehicle on August 13. During the three hour trip home, the check engine light came back on two hours into the trip, with the code P2757. We dropped the van off the next day at the AAMCO service center at *** ******* ****** *********, GA 30253, who after much back and forth, diagnosed that we needed a new computer for over $2,000. We then proceeded to take it to a Toyota dealership nearby, who confirmed that our van indeed has a transmission issue, and that the computer is fine. Not trusting that ********* AAMCO center, we took the van to the AAMCO service center at *** ******* Way, ************, GA 30214. They have been very responsive, but also have been able to accurately diagnose the situation. They have replaced several parts under warranty…parts that were recommended to be changed by the Greenville center. Finally (nearly three months later) on October 20, the ************ station informed me that the Greenville station has decided to replace the valve body, which, they informed me, they did not initially replace and therefore is not under warranty.

  Business response

  11/18/2022

  When the customer came in, he was given the option to have his transmission replaced or rebuilt. We offer a rebuild service on transmissions in an effort to save customers money, part of this rebuild service includes rebuilding part of the valve body.  The customer chose to have the transmission rebuilt which is what we did. Unfortunately, his valve body did not hold the rebuild and upon inspection physical damage was found to the bore holes on the valve body. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be repaired, and the valve body will need to be replaced. We have offered to sell the customer the valve body at our cost and installed at no additional cost to the customer. Initially the customer approved to have the valve body replaced and agreed to pay cost for the part. After the part was ordered the customer called back to inform us that he was not agreeing to pay cost for the part. The new valve body was delivered to the center in ************ GA on October 12, 2022 and is waiting for customer approval before being installed. 

  Customer response

  11/21/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
  

  The business states two claims that are false. 1) They did not offer the option to rebuild or replace the transmission. Two bids (dollar amount) were never offered or given in writing as a comparison. The shop simply stated that the transmission needed to be rebuilt. They also did not offer details about the rebuild, such as that the valve body would not be replaced. 2) I never approved to have the valve body replaced and never agreed to pay cost for the part. I agreed for the business to begin searching for a valve body, and then tell me the expected cost for us to consider. The next word that was sent was that a valve body had been purchased, and could be installed for $750. We never agreed to that estimate, and yet the part was ordered anyway.

  
  
  Regards,
  
  *** ********

  Business response

  11/21/2022

  customer was informed about all opttions and informed of exact cost for all options, was told price of valvebody  before ordered , parts is still waiting to be installed because customer changed his mind , the lenght of time  and delay is due to customer indesioion .

  Customer response

  11/22/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *** ********

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Paid $5k for new transmission, picked up July 20th, 2022. 0.3 miles from the shop, stopped shifting, check engine came on and started smoking. Waited 2hrs for a tow back to the shop. August 4th, get the vehicle back after they waited to order another new transmission. August 6th, stopped shifting, started smoking, check engine came on. Towed back to the shop. Refused to give us the shop owners number, refused to get us a rental, refused to refund us. August 13th, picked up the van after they “fixed it” again. Had it for 3 hours and it yet again broke down. August 16th, he “fixed it”. August 27th, breaks down yet again. Refuses to give us our money back, refuses to let us speak to the owner of the shop yet again, and refuses to give us a rental.

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  as per our warranty agreement we do not pay for tows or rental cars , customer  was supplied a copy and signed all paper work, we have replaced addition parts on van at no cost to the customer to improve performance of transmission, which were not part of original repair. this a privately held company and the owner is not obligated to talk to individual customer, though he may at times, he has hired a general manager to handle day to day operation including all complaints. the customer has a warranty on van and has never been denied any service, in fact on third issue on transmission customer was given a car to drive, when they stated they were headed on vacation , that was a personal car of general managers, we believe we have gone above and beyond in trying to help customer. we have done over 1000 dollars in additional repairs and 250 in tows which we were not responsible for and did not charge customer for , we did this to try and make the repair right and honor our warranty.

  Business response

  09/06/2022

  they were given copy of all paper work here is the third copy they have ask for

  Customer response

  09/08/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
  
  We emailed AAMCO asking for all paperwork pertaining to our account. They emailed all said paperwork, including the paperwork I personally signed. Absolutely no warranty paperwork was given to me, nor did I sign said paperwork about said warranty. I have had several other customers reach out who have had the same experience, where they have been absolutely screwed by this shady shop. I'm not going to stop until I receive a refund, whether it be through my attorney, through social media, through the local news station- at this point it's affecting my entire life and my 3 children's lives. This is absolutely wrong, unjust, and despicable. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ****

• Initial Complaint

  04/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of transaction april 15 2022 Amount of money payed 1,631.97 Business committed to replace & give me a fully functional transmission. That is undamaged or broken inside and no oil leaks otherwise why would i want to pay them 1631.97 when another shop could replace transmission for much less. Nature of dispute is. Business failed to give me a fully functional transmission. The transmission leaks oil like half a cup a day or every other day. It dont shift right. It vibrates were i cant see the road becouse i feel like a drunk driver with cars people and steet lights shaking away in my eyes becouse my eyes cant focus. It gives me vomiting effect. I have tried to call the business & they are refusing to resolve anything. They want me to pay them 50 dollars a hour & leave my car with them so they can print a 2500 dollar bill & trow me in court for not paying it while not resolving anything. What they told me. Invoice number: ******* When i picked up the car on april 15th 2022. It was dead. Dont know what they did to kill my battery. Offered no help to start it but threatened to call police if i did not move the car. My friend helped me start it. After 5 min of it warming up. I wanted to see if it drives. It moved forward but when i put reverse gear, nothing happened. I told them. I cant drive a broken car on the road its unsafe. The guy from the office got into my car & did something to make it go in reverse. I asked them about vibration, that was not there with my broken transmission. He just told me the transmission is perfect. He been doing this for 25 years. Recently i took this car to multiple shops. All of them say, that car is a hazard on the road. The mounting bracket is cracked or broken. Its missing screws. My transmission is not even mounted by all safety manufacturers bolts. How can that be safe. They are telling me i need to pay for all repairs out of pocket when reciept says "6 month AAMCO Warranty. They are refusing to acknowledge that.

  Business response

  04/27/2022

  ***** ******* came to aamco for a transmission issue on 04/06/2022 . after inspection was informed he need a rebuild of his transmission,  which he said he could not afford, at which time he asked about buying a used transmission,  which he accepted. He was informed at that time used transmissions did not carry same warranty as a new or rebuilt transmission because it was a used pert. he agreed to purchase, at which time Mr ******* asked if we could install his motor mounts that he had bought, we agreed, used transmission was install with customer supplied mounts, one week later aamco of gastonia call and stated Mr. ******* was their was a leak, he was informed axle seal were leaking and not covered under warranty of used transmission. Also told vibration is due to the quality of mounts he purchased. Transmission has a 6 month enternal damage warranty and seal are not covered, was also informed driving car while leakiing and not having fixed would void his warranty. he has declined all services

   

  Customer response

  04/28/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

   

  ***** ******* Responce as follows. 

   

  Since i came to pick up my car on Friday 04-15-2022, it did not have any transmission fluid in it, i came to Mike and asked him to put some into my transmission, he declined, then i went back and begged him, that i cannot drive my car with out transmission fluid, he told me , he been doing this for 25 years, if i did not move my car he will have it towed at my expance with police report filling. I got very scared of him. I had no choice but to take my chances and drive my car with out transmission fluid to avoid him starting a criminal matter with me after i payed him the full amount. 
  
  Then between the time since i picked up my car, i have been calling him every day asking him to please please add oil to my transmission, becouse when i came home on 04-15-2022 i put a piece of card board under my engine and it was leaking, transmissionn fluid. So Mr. Mike has made me/forced me to void the warantee by making me drive by force from his parking lot to my house which is close to 50+ miles away with a leaky transmission and with out transmission fluid after i got charged 100 dollars for transmission fluid as stated on my reciept.
  
  On 04-15-2022 when i asked him to give me a quart or two of transmission fluid that he used in the transmission, he declined, even after i offered to pay him for it, he refused to tell me what kind of transmission fluid he used and told me if i put in the wrong one it will not mix correctly and my transmission will no longer operate. I still till this day dont know what transmission fluid they used, so i am scared to go buy a randon transmission fluid and kill my transmission. Then i will be out of money, non functional car and it will all be my fault. 
  
  My mom was there as a witness to all this, and my friend was there who was picking me up and bringing me to pick up my car. 
  
  After calling Mike for a whole week, i figured he will not agree to add oil but told me it was something i did, i decided my only option was to go to gastonia nc to have my transmission fluid refilled, that is after taking my car to who out body shops and getting confirmation need fluid urgently. 
  
  When i came to Ammco transmission, i was never informed of any warantee conditions, not verbally or in writting. If i was told that they will put transmission that was not covered by there warantee i would have declined to do the work order all togather.
  
  Now they are telling me i need to spend 500+ dollars to fix my axel leaks, something i was never informed verbally or in writting. Also Mike told me that he will not work on my car unless i changed my motor mounts, which where fine and not damaged as i had changed them couple years before becouse i totally fixed my car. I was confused why he was denying to replace transmission with out changing the motor mounts, so i decided to agree to get my own mounts and i had gotten top of the line the auto store had to offer. My old transmission that was on my car before they changed it was not vibrating or leaking oil, i have reciepts of the work i done on it to fix everything. 
  
  My car is currently not drivable becouse it leaked out nearly all the fluid. They never offered to replce the seal fast enough. I was too scared to drive the car back to them. I still dont know what fluid to use to refill my transmission. 

  Business response

  04/29/2022

  Mr. ******* has not called or brought his vehicle back to us since he picked it up on 4/15/2022. Upon pickup he was reassured that the transmission was installed correctly and fluids were filled to manufactures specification. Mr. ******* still seemed unsure and asked Mike to come out to the vehicle to show him the fluid levels. Mike did go out to the vehicle and answered all questions that Mr. ******* asked at the time. After being shown that the transmission fluid was filled to the correct level he then requested to purchase an extra quart of transmission fluid and stated that he simply wanted to have an extra quart on hand incase the vehicle needed it in the future. We informed Mr. ******* that we do not sell transmission fluid by the quart as we order in bulk and it is stored in a tank, we also informed him that if he did want to keep an extra quart on hand that he could go to his local parts store and purchase a quart of ATF. A few minutes later Mr. ******* came back into the shop and stated that the vehicle would not go into reverse. Mike went out to the vehicle again and confirmed that the vehicle did go into reverse and that there were no issues. At no point did anyone threaten Mr. ******* physically, and at no point did anyone tell Mr. ******* that his vehicle had to be moved or that he would have the police called on him if he did not move his vehicle. Mr. ******* was reassured before leaving the property that if he had any questions or issues to give us a call and we would be more than happy to answer any questions or resolve any problems. Mr. ******* was provided a copy of the warranty information, page 3 of his receipt, upon pickup and signed the receipt acknowledging that he had received the invoice and warranty information.

  Customer response

  05/02/2022

  I was so excited to have my car fixed, because Mr. Mike told me he got a transmission for me, it took me two months to save the money, I was full of joy, (Including calling twice a day to check on it) I could not wait to be able to drive my car until the day on 04-15-2022 when I came to get my car. It was parked right next to the road and was "unlocked" for anyone to steal anything out of it. Why not lock customers cars? Then he would not let me have the keys to the car until I paid the bill for the car. I wanted to take a look at it, but no, I was told I had to pay in full first. Were they scared I would not pay? but I paid like I promised. When I got the keys, my car was dead, as in no power. Car battery that was starting my car was dead. Do they not have any way to charge the battery before giving the car to customer? how is the customer supposed to start their own car, and how is that "you car is ready" when I can't even start it? My battery was good, but leaving the dash lights on for more then 30+ min, may drain any potential battery, I told them that. (I trusted aamco to do it right without fail, because it said, they were total car care transmission experts)
  ATF stands for Automatic Transmission Fluid, again, I fail to see which fluid to buy and which fluid they put into my transmission. Please can you please be a little more specific what ATF fluid I need to buy to put into my transmission? or is one single brand compatible with every make and model of cars in the world?  I also don't understand or was informed that after they would replace my transmission, I would not be able to drive my car because it keeps dumping 1/2 cup of fluid from the axel seals. That was not advertised anywhere in the shop office. Plus the warrantee information was only, only given to me after I had paid in full, I had no choice but to sign so they would give me my car key back. I asked them what I am signing, they told me, it was so they can release my car keys back to me.  (Auto body shops make you sign a form that they are giving your car keys back so they can protect themselves)
  Mike did not answer all my questions but told me "I have been doing this for 25 years, you need to move your car and stop asking questions" I was never reassured of anything because I have been driving my car for years, over 100,000 miles and I know how to measure and look for oil on the dip stick. I did not see any. Mike said he saw, but when I wiped the dip stick with paper towel it was dry. There was no wetness of any kind. Mike said, that was normal. I went to a professional auto body shop and they told me, I was 2 quarts short on fluid, and that was not, not normal, I could have killed my transmission by driving home alone. I never said I was threatened, I was told that my car would be towed if I did not pick it up. I am employed like everyone else, I got bills to pay and I have to work full time, that is 5 days a week. I was scared to drive this repaired car and I was at work for the days before I went to Gastonia NC. Yes they told me they would help me with anything, as you see how defensive they are, shows how much assistance they were ready to make for me.
  The fact that they released my car in such poor shape is a treat to my life in its own right. Vibration, that's the cause of accidents, you feel vibration, you tire blows up, you feel vibration you ball joints that hold the front tires in place will pop out and instant accident. Manufacturer will never allow for such error, but my transmission is constantly vibrating. According to the screen shot, it states any Transmission Vibration can indicate serious problems with your transmission. (notice it don't state transmission has failed to operate or its because of engine mounts)
  I have phone records to show that I have called and talked with them, they told me I needed to stop calling them and making things up. They have always denied to add fluid since I picked the car up on 04-15-2022. Then I called Gastonia AAmcco and they helped me. They did not turn me away.
  I am sure they have a reputation to keep why they would always state we installed everything correctly, When I called Mike, he told me, "*****, you must have tried changing the transmission yourself and now your with missing bolts" but in reality I know nothing about transmission, and will never ever attempt to work on something I don't understand or have proper tools, why I took my car to professionals experts.
  If Mike was so so sure that my transmission was full on fluid, why did Gastonia AAmcco added 2 quarts of fluid to my transmission just mere days later?(As you can see in the attached receipt from Gastonia) was Mike seeing fluid or not? Can transmission drive without fluid or not? (The attached website states low transmission fluid is the easiest ways to ruin a transmission.)
  Link to website for information purposes :: https://www.*****************************************************************/ ::
  Looking thru my receipts I don't see anywhere were it states transmission core or my old transmission was required for me to turn in, anywhere. Its not printed on invoice or anywhere. I called them several times that I wanted to keep my old transmission. If core is required, why not put it on the invoice. I paid repair costs on my old transmission and for sentimental value wanted to keep it as it was my property.
  They told me I could not keep my old transmission but had to pay them 200 dollar fee if I wanted to keep it, but again I fail to see any mention of that on the receipt why. (Invoice part where it lists all my invoice items)
  If my transmission is leaking fluid its faulty.
  If my transmission is vibrating its faulty.
  If my transmission is not bolted down according to manufacturers specification its faulty. (picture provided of missing transmission bolt holes among several other I have located)

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