Transmission World

By DON DARE

6 On Your Side Reporter



If you're like most people, when your car needs service you want to be informed and develop a working relationship with your mechanic.



That's the opposite of what happened to Jeni McBride, who had only two payments left to make on her car when she started having trouble in September.



6 On Your Side went to Transmission World with her, where her 2001 Mitsubishi Diamante has been parked for more than three months after she had it towed to the Walker Springs Road location. She sais it was making a funny noise.



"Jamie is the one I talked to," McBride said. "He said I can have a free tow and a free 24-point inspection. It stated that on the Web site."



McBride was contacted by the manager, a man named Jim.



"They called me the next morning and said it was going to be $800 to fix it," she said.



McBride had not been to the shop and had not signed any papers, but she gave Transmission World permission to do the repair.



"If it was going to be $800, I said, 'Okay, I can handle that.'"



But the $800 charge soon became $2,560.89.



"After he told me it's $2600 I told him to fax this to me," McBride said, showing a faxed receipt dated September 22.



At the bottom, the authorization section is blank.



When 6 On Your Side went with McBride to Transmission World, the owner, Gus Lamonica, told her, "All you have to do is pay your bill and you'll get your car."



"I never authorized you to fix my car, Gus," she answered.



We showed Lamonica the fax sent to McBride. He looked puzzled.



Lamonica invited us inside to show a second receipt.



"I got the last four digits of Frank's Social Security number," he said.



"Frank's not on the car loan and he didn't authorize that," McBride said.



"Yes, he did," Lamonica answered. "He did it on 9/23."



Lamonica said the receipt he had was authorized by McBride's husband on September 23, the day after she had received the faxed receipt with no authorization on it.



"This is not a mistake over here. His was authorized by her husband and we need to get paid on it. She's not going to get the car for nothing," Lamonica insisted.



"I'm not going to stand here and talk to a liar," she replied. "I want my car back."



But Lamonica stood firm. "No, you're not getting your car back until you pay."



Frank McBride said he gave his Social Security numbers to Transmission World, but for a different reason than Lamonica claimed.



"Within the first week they called to verify that it was my wife's car, that they had it in their shop," Mr. McBride said.



Lamonica remains adamant that Frank McBride had given his approval, saying he doesn't need a signature. "You need a date of birth or Social Security number."



But is he right?



In the state statute, Title 66, Chapter 19, called Duty to Inform Consumer of Rights Before Beginning Vehicle Repairs, it says, "May request a written estimate for repairs in excess of $250."



The rule says nothing about obtaining a date of birth or Social Security numbers.



"I'm a good honest citizen. I've never broken the law," said Mrs. McBride. "I can't imagine people doing this to people."



A letter was sent by Transmission World's attorney, saying, "Good faith efforts to resolve any issues with Transmission World have been refused by the McBrides. This matter is now in litigation."

HELLO CUSTOMERS,

TN COMSUMER AFFAIRS HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICE ALLEGATIONS INVOLVING TRANSMISSION WORLD. THIS OFFICE HAS THE POWER TO SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN WITH THE HELP OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. PLEASE FILE YOUR COMPLAINT ONLINE AT



WWW.STATE.TN.US/CONSUMER OR



EMAIL: CONSUMER.AFFAIRS@STATE.TN.US OR



CALL 1-800-342-8385



IT GENERALLY TAKES 15 DAYS TO RECIEVE A LETTER FROM THE TCA BUT THEY WILL INVESTIGATE THIS MATTER.

Take your car here if you want to be lied to, misquoted, mistreated, hung on by the owner Gus, and if you want to lose your car forever. They will steal your car by promising free towing and free estimate and do unauthorized repairs and give you a $2500 bill followed by $25 per day storage charge. They will make it so you can't get your car back so they can sell it and make a ton of money off of innocent victims.

took a vehicle there for repair. was quoted a price of $1,100 "at the most" for repairs and charged $500 (which would be applied to the $1,100) for them to tear into the transmission to inspect it. the following day, was told that it would cost $2,500. we had two options: pay the $500 for practically nothing or pay these scam artists $2,500 for the repairs that were supposed to cost $1,100 at the most. gave it one star only because i wasn't able to give it NO stars.



I am calling Don Dare.

Location Involved: (Same as above)



Consumer's Original Complaint :

Was charged for a rebuilt transmission when all I needed was a soleniod.

Late Friday, September 25, 2009, my 2003 Altima started making a clunking sound when it went into 2nd gear. My regular mechanic is closed on the weekends so I decided to try Transmission World. I called Jim, the manager, and he advised me to bring it in and take a look at it. I brought my car into the shop on Saturday, September 26, 2009 and I was told by Jim that I was "lucky" to have brought it in before any damage was done; and that I still had all my gears so I wouldn't need another transmission. He also stated the reason it clunked is because there is a safety feature in Nissan's which makes it clunk like that when gears are slipping. He then drove me to Hertz to get a rental car and dropped me off at the door without telling me that there is a $200 deposit which I am told by Hertz is common practice. I called Jim again on Sunday, September 27,2009 and was worried about having to have another transmission and he said "you absolutely will not have to have another transmission," and repeated that phrase; and also told me "not to let it ruin my weekend." Monday, September 28, Jim then called me to tell me I needed a rebuilt transmission for over $3200. I was perplexed as to what to do and read some reviews online about Transmission World and how they don't put your car back together if you want to take it somewhere else and therefore it is rendered undriveable. After I picked up my car. Within an hour, my car started doing the same thing it did before and the whole reason I took it to that shop which was clunking when it went into 2nd gear. I called Jim, Thursday, October 1 furious because I had paid all this money and my car still was not fixed. And that I had just paid for a transmission and I didn't need it and I was overcharged. Jim argued with me and hung up on me. I waited until Saturday, October 3, 2009 and I called JIm and told him I would be in Monday. I did not want to pay for a "free" rental car which in the end cost me $130 in taxes. I came in Monday, October 5, 2009, and Jim concluded that I had a faulty Solenoid and he would order the part. I told him I would come back in a week as I could not keep taking off work for this. I asked if I could still drive it and he said "yeah no problem." Which is funny because he told me the first day I brought my car in for this same problem, he said I was "lucky" I got it in before it did damage and not to drive it anymore. BUT NOW IT'S OK TO DRIVE IT? He also went over the safety feature in Nissan's which kicks when it has problems shifting. I brought my car back in Monday, October 12, 2009 and waited on my car for three hours until they replaced the Solenoid which was the original problem. Jim asked me what problems I was having with the car, I told him the check engine light was STILL on, and that it was doing the exact same thing it was doing when I first brought it in, and somebody better drive it for at least ten minutes becuase that is when it starts clunking into gear. He had one of the mechanics drive it. He also cleared the check engine light code for the second time. About three days later on Thursday, October 15, 2009 the check engine light came on again, and my car does not exactly drive like it originally did. I took my car to my usual mechanic Monday, November 2, 2009 and he and another technician looked at my car and both agreed all I needed was a Solenoid and not a tranmsission and I could have driven my car for a couple of weeks like it was, until I could get it to them and would have saved thousands of dollars. I called Nissan and they agreed with the mechanic

Google this company and see the numerous complaints about this company. They will promise you a free estimate and free towing and will repair your car with no authorization and tell you that you that you owe thousands before they give your car back. This company is stealing consumers blind.

I just recently moved to Knoxville, and when my car started acting up I had no idea where to get it fixed. A co-worker told me to take it to Transmission World. What a great referral, my car runs great! The guys that work there were really nice, and the free loaner car was a nice touch. THANKS!

Gasper (Owner) of Transmission World has been a great help to our company "Sound Master DJ's" . He has always checked out our van and many other vehicles I have owned. He has kept my van and personal vehicles running at a cost effective price. Many times he has done a free diagnostic check on vehicles, just to give me piece of mind. Anytime I have any service done he always arranges a top notch rental car for me. There have been times I had to put my van in his shop and he has done minimal repairs and not charged me for anything I did not need. There is no doubt that if I had a break down on a way to a performance; I would call Gasper at Transmission World and I bet I would get my vehicle towed for free, get a rental to get to my performance, and a reliable quality repair. I would highly reccomend Transmission World to anyone. Sound Master DJ's, Jeff B

Gasper (Owner) of Transmission World has been a great help to our company "Sound Master DJ's" . He has always checked out our van and many other vehicles I have owned. He has kept my van and personal vehicles running at a cost effective price. Many times he has done a free diagnostic check on vehicles, just to give me piece of mind. Anytime I have any service done he always arranges a top notch rental car for me. There have been times I had to put my van in his shop and he has done minimal repairs and not charged me for anything I did not need. There is no doubt that if I had a break down on a way to a performance; I would call Gasper at Transmission World and I bet I would get my vehicle towed for free, get a rental to get to my performance, and a reliable quality repair. I would highly reccomend Transmission World to anyone.



Sound Master DJ's,

Jeff B