Hello, and thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some input. Unfortunately this is long; I hope that you can bear with it and I'd welcome any advice.
In March 2011, our vehicle's transmission failed and it was towed to a transmission shop. The transmission shop said the transmission would need to be rebuilt and that we would have it back in about a week.
Three weeks later, our vehicle available for us to pick up and we paid almost $3000 for the repairs. During this time the customer service was poor; we were continually told that the vehicle would be ready and it was not ready when promised.
Three days later, we left for a family vacation. When we were approximately 3.5 hours and 180 miles away from home, the vehicle broke down again. The transmission shiop sent a flatbed (at their expense) to tow the vehicle back. We had to rent a replacement vehicle at a cost of $660 for the week of our trip.
We were informed by the transmission shop that the issue resulted from a faulty torque converter which was supplied by another company; we were told that the other company admitted that the part was faulty.
We got our vehicle back again about 8 days later. As required by the transmission shop's warranty, we brought the vehicle back to have the seals checked two weeks later. We were informed that everything was working properly.
Since this first incident we have been requesting that the transmission company, or the company who supplied the faulty part, reimburse us for the rental car expense.
Then in June 2011, our transmission was leaking. This was confirmed by a repair shop and by the dealership. The dealership said that the transmission was leaking so badly that they had to put in some dye and have it returned for checking in a few days.
We notified the transmission ship and they insisted that we bring the vehicle back to them. Since this was the 2nd failure after they had supposedly fixed the vehicle, we were not willing to bring it back to them again.
The dealership reported - in writing - that the leak was caused by the pump not being properly installed when the transmission was serviced previously They had to replace a damaged gasket and reinstall the pump. As they were working on this, the dealership found a hole in the transmission case that resulted in the case needing to be replaced. This hole either was not reported to us if it was there when the transmission shop serviced our vehicle, or it was caused by the improper reinstallation of the transmission. In support of these items, we have enclosed the following photographic documentation: (1) the pool of fluid on our garage floor, (2) the damaged o-ring, and (3) the hole in the transmission case.
The dealership's charges for both visits came to about $1200. They did not charge us for the transmission case itself and only charged for the associated labor to install the new case.
As a result of these repeated transmission issues, we requested, first via phone, then in person, and finally via certified mail, that the transmission shop refund the amount we paid for the work that the dealership performed as well as the rental car expense.
The credit card company is ready and willing to accept our dispute if we choose to file it. Today we got a letter from the transmission shop stating that we should have returned the vehicle to them for repair and that they would not be refunding any of our money. They also indicated that should we dispute and receive money back, they would pursue us in small claims court for non payment. They basically implied that we were dishonest about the whole thing since we wouldn't bring it back to them to be fixed.
At this point I should mention that there was a short "warranty" statement on the receipt from the transmission shop excluding rental, towing, and transmission case failures. We were not aware of this prior to the work being done on the vehicle, nor did we sign anything prior to the repairs. We did authorize them to work on the vehicle over the phone but there was no statement of warranty at that time.
I have documented this entire situation and also provided receipts and photos to the transmission shop.
With all of this being said, I need some informed opinions about how to proceed.
1. Should we speak with an attorney?
2. Should we file the dispute?
3. Does the "warranty" mean that our chances of successs are minimal? Because there was a warranty, were we required to either continue to return the vehicle to the transmission shop or pay out of our pocket?
4. If the dispute is successful, what's the likelihood of us having to continue this battle in small claims court? If the credit card company sides with us, does it mean that we'd have a better chance of winning in court if it comes to that?
I'm grateful for any advice from those who have expertise in this area. This is the first time I've ever had a conflict like this with a merchant; however, two failed repairs and thousands of dollars are pretty significant and I am hoping there's a way we can recoup some of our money. This has been a months-long ordeal and I'm really hoping we can get it resolved soon.
Again, thanks for any help you can provide.
Amy
In March 2011, our vehicle's transmission failed and it was towed to a transmission shop. The transmission shop said the transmission would need to be rebuilt and that we would have it back in about a week.
Three weeks later, our vehicle available for us to pick up and we paid almost $3000 for the repairs. During this time the customer service was poor; we were continually told that the vehicle would be ready and it was not ready when promised.
Three days later, we left for a family vacation. When we were approximately 3.5 hours and 180 miles away from home, the vehicle broke down again. The transmission shiop sent a flatbed (at their expense) to tow the vehicle back. We had to rent a replacement vehicle at a cost of $660 for the week of our trip.
We were informed by the transmission shop that the issue resulted from a faulty torque converter which was supplied by another company; we were told that the other company admitted that the part was faulty.
We got our vehicle back again about 8 days later. As required by the transmission shop's warranty, we brought the vehicle back to have the seals checked two weeks later. We were informed that everything was working properly.
Since this first incident we have been requesting that the transmission company, or the company who supplied the faulty part, reimburse us for the rental car expense.
Then in June 2011, our transmission was leaking. This was confirmed by a repair shop and by the dealership. The dealership said that the transmission was leaking so badly that they had to put in some dye and have it returned for checking in a few days.
We notified the transmission ship and they insisted that we bring the vehicle back to them. Since this was the 2nd failure after they had supposedly fixed the vehicle, we were not willing to bring it back to them again.
The dealership reported - in writing - that the leak was caused by the pump not being properly installed when the transmission was serviced previously They had to replace a damaged gasket and reinstall the pump. As they were working on this, the dealership found a hole in the transmission case that resulted in the case needing to be replaced. This hole either was not reported to us if it was there when the transmission shop serviced our vehicle, or it was caused by the improper reinstallation of the transmission. In support of these items, we have enclosed the following photographic documentation: (1) the pool of fluid on our garage floor, (2) the damaged o-ring, and (3) the hole in the transmission case.
The dealership's charges for both visits came to about $1200. They did not charge us for the transmission case itself and only charged for the associated labor to install the new case.
As a result of these repeated transmission issues, we requested, first via phone, then in person, and finally via certified mail, that the transmission shop refund the amount we paid for the work that the dealership performed as well as the rental car expense.
The credit card company is ready and willing to accept our dispute if we choose to file it. Today we got a letter from the transmission shop stating that we should have returned the vehicle to them for repair and that they would not be refunding any of our money. They also indicated that should we dispute and receive money back, they would pursue us in small claims court for non payment. They basically implied that we were dishonest about the whole thing since we wouldn't bring it back to them to be fixed.
At this point I should mention that there was a short "warranty" statement on the receipt from the transmission shop excluding rental, towing, and transmission case failures. We were not aware of this prior to the work being done on the vehicle, nor did we sign anything prior to the repairs. We did authorize them to work on the vehicle over the phone but there was no statement of warranty at that time.
I have documented this entire situation and also provided receipts and photos to the transmission shop.
With all of this being said, I need some informed opinions about how to proceed.
1. Should we speak with an attorney?
2. Should we file the dispute?
3. Does the "warranty" mean that our chances of successs are minimal? Because there was a warranty, were we required to either continue to return the vehicle to the transmission shop or pay out of our pocket?
4. If the dispute is successful, what's the likelihood of us having to continue this battle in small claims court? If the credit card company sides with us, does it mean that we'd have a better chance of winning in court if it comes to that?
I'm grateful for any advice from those who have expertise in this area. This is the first time I've ever had a conflict like this with a merchant; however, two failed repairs and thousands of dollars are pretty significant and I am hoping there's a way we can recoup some of our money. This has been a months-long ordeal and I'm really hoping we can get it resolved soon.
Again, thanks for any help you can provide.
Amy
