I first brought my vehicle (1991 Ford Probe) into The Transmission Place on October 15, 2001 because the transmission was having problems. I was helped by the manager Dave and my vehicle was taken in to be inspected. After the inspection, it was decided that the transmission had to be completely rebuilt. The total cost of the rebuild was $1845.72, which also included a 12 months or 20, 000 km warranty. No conditions were ever stated regarding this warranty at any time. At the time of completion my vehicle had 155, 902 km.
On May 23, 2002, the transmission in my vehicle completely failed as I was pulling away from my house. I had it towed back to The Transmission Place (at my expense) because it was still covered under the unconditional warranty with only 11, 675 km put on it in just over 7 months. I was helped again by the manager Dave, who took my car into be inspected.
Over the next 10-11 days I contacted The Transmission Place 2-3 times and asked to speak with Dave each time. Each time that I called I was told they were waiting for parts and to check back in a few days.
On June 4, 2002, I called The Transmission Place and was told that my vehicle would be completed on June 6, 2002.
During the time of the repair (May 23 to June 4, 2002), I was under the impression that it was covered under the unconditional warranty and I was never told that it would cost me anything.
On June 6, 2002, I went to pick up my vehicle where Dave took me into his shop and showed me the parts that were damaged. He then explained to me what caused the transmission to fail. Dave explained to me that the damage was caused by the spider gears' breaking, which caused all of the gears in the transmission to go out of place and crack the casing of the transmission. I then asked Dave if he saw that happen often, and he responded by saying that he did see that type of damage quite a bit. I also asked Dave what caused the spider gears to break like they did, and he said that the engine of the vehicle being so powerful caused it to break. Dave and I then proceeded to the front of the store where he handed me my keys and then a bill for the repair, which was still covered under the unconditional warranty.
I asked him why I had to pay and he responded by saying that this type of repair is not covered under the warranty. I did not agree with Dave, but I paid anyway only because I could not go without a vehicle for any longer. The cost of the repair was $615.25, which covered the cost of parts and I was not charged for the cost of labour. The amount of $615.25 was put on my MasterCard, and after the repair my vehicle had 167, 585 km on it.
During the weeks following the transmission repair I contacted a two other transmission stores in person to inquire about their warranty policies to find out what is and is not covered under warranties similar to the one that I received from The Transmission Place. The first place that I contacted stated that anything external in the vehicle or anything electrical that causes the transmission to fail should not be covered under the warranty, but anything internal such as the spider gears would be covered completely (parts and labour).
The second place that I contacted was Aamco Transmissions on King St. E. in Oshawa where I spoke with the manager Ed who got quite upset after I explained the situation to him. He said that I was being ripped off by The Transmission Place because anything inside the transmission that is at fault would be covered under any warranty policy. The manager Ed then asked me if he could speak with Dave from The Transmission Place and I agreed. Ed and Dave spoke for between 2-3 minutes regarding the situation where Ed asked Dave some questions, told Dave that he was ripping me off and asked him if he would refund my money.
Once their conversation was over, Ed told me that I should take Dave to small claims court because I should not have been charged for the repair. Neither transmission store that I contacted would write a letter for me stating the facts of our conversation or what should be covered under any warranty policy.
The Transmission Place enjoys trying to rip-off young people because they think they can get away with it.
THEY WERE VERY DISHONEST AND I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANYBODY TO TAKE THEIR VEHICLE INTO THE TRANSMISSION PLACE IN OSHAWA, ONTARIO.
Shane
Oshawa, Ontario
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