Complaint Review: Ats Diesel

Oh jeez, I'm just in the process of buying one of these tranny's. One thing that I need is a reliable tranny for my line of work. One of the things that steered me to ATS was the warranty. One of the things that steered me away was the fact that there are a limited amount of dealers here in Canada. I was resently hosed for a piece of @#$% from Eagle Transmission in Calgary Alberta and the ordeal was very hard on my head. Back and forth, try this, try that, new valve body twice, never mind the downtime which cost me the most. I work in the oil patch in alberta, I've pushed mud with my front bumper numerous times, I've gotten stuck numerous times going downhill into a jobsite. When I'm heading home to Revelstoke the trans canada highway is my own  personal F1 race with a 125 gal slip tank in the back. I pull a S250 Bobcat around when need be at home. If getting stuck/unstuck and driving hard's gonna void any warranty on a tranny that's supposed to be purpose built for these conditions then I guess we'll see how this one turns out. I ain't no city boy driving on pavement all day burning tires at the strip or parking lot, I don't kill my truck, I work my 12 valve truck the way most guys do, to earn a living....... 

As a follow up on this complaint, i can now say i was able to talk to Clint Cannon, the owner of ATS.we had a very good conversation about the situation and have resolved the issue respectfully and professionally. Mr Cannon proved to be very understanding and and his main concerned was that im happy with his product. 

In the ATS rebuttal to Nick Baldwin, Clint feels Nick has abused his truck and therefore ATS should not be responsible. Has ATS not looked at their own website, showing pictures of trucks participating in truck pulls, burning rubber, pulling heavy sleds?  If Clint is advertising that these are the type of events his transmissions can participate in, then how can he have a problem with Nick pulling a Jeep?

Further, the reference to someone being on drugs and the inference that a person's name makes him a bad person is just childish and uncalled for.

Interesting too that the BBB of Denver Colorado now has 9 complaints against this company.

Or perhaps you need to be?

Look, this guy, Nick, comes on here, all piss and vinegar, about a supposed "rip off" by ATS. I have no personal interest in this company, btw...

Nick makes all sorts of allegations and says bad things about ATS. ATS makes a first rebuttal that is calm, well laid out and reasonable, especially given that they gave him a NEW TRANS for pretty much nothing as far as I can tell.

The next rebuttal (did you even go to the site??) has further info AND pics of Nick abusing his truck in a frigging SUV PULL and detailed info and pics of the damage he caused to his own reverse drum.

Hell, why WOULDN'T you use ATS? They stood behind a product, even with absence of evidence that they were in the wrong or provided a faulty product. They sent a replacement product with pretty much no questions asked. They tried to help Nick through the problems he was having which would have cost them in time and manhours (pay).

Thing is, they got the drop on Nick, in a public forum, LYING about how his damage came to pass, and when they did, they had the BALLS to share that information along with their position on what their course of action would be. That's gutsy AND right.

Haven't heard from Nick again since... Ever wonder why that may be?

Why is it that only the consumer should be let loose on here to scream "class action lawsuit" about every perceived "rip off", but when a company actually catches a customer being sleazy, they'd better shut their pieholes? Why wouldn't you do business with ATS? Do YOU have some plan to scam them too? Why would you fear legal action from them if you have no intent ot defraud? If you're just a consumer, on the up and up, looking for a part, and if anything goes wrong, you're ready to deal with it like a logical consumer, why the fear?

ATS has every right to defend themselves if they've been wrongfully accused, and that's just what's happened here as far as I can see.

On a personal note, I wonder what it is about names? I've known a number of people named "Nick" in my life, and all of them, down to a one, have been scheming turds. Thus I have a saying; "Never trust a man named after a shaving accident".

I have just begun researching transmissions and came upon this site. After reading the complaint and both rebuttles, I have to say that I am very leery and would never buy a product from a company who publicly threatens a lawsuit because of a disagreement. This negates the ability to have a professional relationship and a positive outcome. ATS is off my list as well as any other company who posts threats to get a lawyer, and it is not due to the original complaint. I can read through and make an educated decision about a disagreement, but I cannot let myself get involved in legal threats.

I have just begun researching transmissions and came upon this site. After reading the complaint and both rebuttles, I have to say that I am very leery and would never buy a product from a company who publicly threatens a lawsuit because of a disagreement. This negates the ability to have a professional relationship and a positive outcome. ATS is off my list as well as any other company who posts threats to get a lawyer, and it is not due to the original complaint. I can read through and make an educated decision about a disagreement, but I cannot let myself get involved in legal threats.

I have just begun researching transmissions and came upon this site. After reading the complaint and both rebuttles, I have to say that I am very leery and would never buy a product from a company who publicly threatens a lawsuit because of a disagreement. This negates the ability to have a professional relationship and a positive outcome. ATS is off my list as well as any other company who posts threats to get a lawyer, and it is not due to the original complaint. I can read through and make an educated decision about a disagreement, but I cannot let myself get involved in legal threats.

ATS STRONGLY REBUTS THIS POST. THE COMPANY HAS VITAL INFORMATION TO THE CONTRARY OF THIS POST. READ ON.

ATS received Nick Baldwin's transmission on-site at its installation facility in Arvada, CO. The company's technicians disassembled Baldwin's transmission, and upon inspection, found that the reverse drum had been damaged severely. This kind of damage only occurs from abuse.
Baldwin states in his initial complaint here that his truck was at a reputable shop in Santee, CA. This shop is, in fact, quite reputable. When the truck showed up at that shop, the front right axle shaft was sitting in the bed of the truck it was broken.

ATS' investigation reveals that Baldwin was driving his truck on Sunday, June 7, 2009. He stated he parked his truck for an hour; when he got in, there was a clicking sound and no movement in reverse, and little movement in forward (any gear). ATS has never heard of a truck's transmission breaking while parked, for any period of time.

Based on a closely-knit diesel community, ATS has received photos showing that before Baldwin parked his truck, he was clearly abusing his truck by partaking in a neighborhood pull of some sort. More specifically, Baldwin was pulling an SUV off a pile of lumber in reverse. During this activity, Baldwin broke the right front axle of his Ford.

Tom, at the shop, Baldwin was lying about the transmission. Baldwin received a warranty transmission, but continued to disparage ATS both at the shop and here on ripoffreport.com. Yes, that's correct, ATS replaced Baldwin's transmission regardless of the abuse executed at his discretion. You can see pictures of Nicks truck before he parked it go to http://www.atsdiesel.com/nickbaldwin .

There is a reason that ATS has an abuse policy in our warranty. When customers abuse their vehicles, they are very seldom honest about what has actually happened to the vehicle. Failures similar to Baldwin's are always a result of abuse. Abuse such as this cannot be covered by any warranty. Nick should be ashamed of his actions.

ATS is evaluating legal action, including but not limited to a lawsuit, against Nick Baldwin for his defamatory remarks and blatant libel. In law, defamation is the communication of a statement, express or implied, intended to give a business or individual a negative image. Baldwin has done so and more. Therefore, ATS disclaims Baldwin's actions and fully defends itself against any such attacks.

Sincerely,

Clint Cannon
Owner and Founder, ATS Diesel Performance

This customer Nick works for 4 Wheel Parts, and opted to have the transmission installed in his garage. Nick acknowledged before he purchased the transmission that ATS does not offer a labor warranty on transmissions that have not been installed by an authorized ATS facility, or ATS itself. Nick then completed the valve body swaps on his own, because there was no labor warranty on the transmission; not because he was working for a vendor or being an ex-Ford tech.

Our sales technician, Eric McCabe, handled Nick's complaints. Every single part he sent, every single check he requested Nick make, and every single procedure Nick went through was at the direction of myself, Mike (our general manager), or Bob (our transmission shop manager). Nick then got tired of working through what the potential issues might be, and instead communicated to Eric that he wanted to go to Action Turbo. ATS then shipped him a new transmission with no charge for shipping or parts up front, and also paid the labor for diagnosis. It took a while for ATS to take care of Nick the first time around because he wasn't able to get his truck into the shop for a few weeks.

Eric spoke with Nick Monday, June 9, when he called with his latest complaint. Mike, general manager, instructed Eric to tell Nick to drop the pan and see if there was anything obvious wrong with the transmission. As his complaint states, he refused, saying he wanted to take the transmission back to Action Turbo. Eric informed him that would be fine, but per the terms of the express warranty, ATS would only cover the labor charges at its discretion. Eric also told Nick that I authorized him to get me the shop's bill and we could discuss labor at that point. Action Turbo has since been in touch with Mike regarding Nick's transmission.

ATS strives to offer top customer service at all times, period. We will not, however, violate the terms of our warranty to customers who refuse to treat our company with respect. Therefore, at this time, we decline to offer a warranty on his transmission because it was not installed by an authorized installation facility.

Sincerely,

Clint Cannon, President, ATS Diesel Performance