Complaint Review: Pro Trans Plus

Jeff at Pro Trans Plus (the owner) seemed like he was ok when I first called him.  I found out who he was through the recommendation of a friend who said he had heard good things from a friend. 

So I called him and explained what my transmission was doing.  He said to bring the car by.  I brought it by, he took it on a test drive with me, and determined that the transmission needed a rebuild.  I left the car with him with an estimate to do the transmission work and to install a transmission intercooler (I think that's what they're called) at his recommendation.  He told me he wasn't busy and I'd have the car inside of a week. 

Two weeks later, he calls me and says my car is ready.  I go to pick it up, and it's WORSE than it was when I dropped it off. The vehicle felt sluggish and was making a horrendous noise.  Also, it turned out that the price went up on the rebuild AND he never bothered to install the intercooler.  When I asked him about that, he said that he didn't think it was necessary (even though he suggested I do it, and I wanted to do it since I was going to do some towing with this vehicle).  I asked him about the price, and he said that he needed some other parts and the labor was a little more than he thought.  OK that's fine, as it was only a few hundred dollars and not a few thousand like some other shops.  

Anyway, I asked him about the noise and bumps, and he said it was normal and would go away after a little driving.  I said that that didn't sound right, but I'd take the car and drive it for a few days since that's what he suggested.  As I was driving home, it was getting worse and worse.  The sounds could be clearly heard, it was making a clunk noise, and it was still very weak on power.  I called him the next day, and he said to bring the car by.  Dropped it off, and he said he was going to put it on the lift and let me know what was going on with it in a few days.  2 weeks go by, and I didn't hear anything.  I called him and he says that he hasn't had time to look at the car and that he'll need me to leave it for at least a month.  I told him that was unacceptable.  He tells me he'll call me back.

2 days later, he calls me back and says that he pulled the transmission apart again, that he found the problem, and that he's ordering some parts and I'll have it within a week.  About a week later, I go to pick up the vehicle and it's no different!  Still making the sounds, still feels funny, still has no power.  This time, I didn't take the car with me. 

I bring it back right after the test drive, and tell him that it still feels funny.  He says that I'm wrong, and goes on a test drive with me.  While we're driving, he's being very rude saying that I don't know what I'm talking about, that the transmission is perfect.  When it starts making the noise, he hears it, gets an annoyed look, and says "OK, I'll fix it".  When we get back to his shop, he slams my door, goes in his shop and starts banging tools around. 

A week later, he calls me and tells me that he needs a full month to diagnose it because it's a major problem, and that is the only way he'll honor the warranty.  I tell him that it's already been a month since I first dropped the car off, and that I can't have my car out of commission for this long.  He tells me he'll call me back.  A week goes by, and I don't hear from him.  I call him, leave a message, no return call.  Another week goes by, and I decide to drive by the shop to see what the progress is.  The transmission is off of the vehicle, and he starts yelling at me.  He says that there's nothing wrong with the "f*&^$#@ transmission" and that I'm being "too picky" about the sounds and loss of power.  I tell him that a transmission shouldn't be clunking into gear and making whining noises if it's fixed right, and that I've owned enough cars with both good and bad transmissions to know.  At this point, he grabs a huge wrench, comes over to me and threatens me.  He tells me to take my vehicle, shove it, and he doesn't care that it doesn't have a transmission installed.  He then tells me that I'm not going to get my transmission back.  I got pissed off at this, and yes, I did lose my cool here.  This was the first time I had raised my voice to him, and I yelled that he can't take my transmission and keep it.  He says "well I put all the new parts in, so it's mine".  I told him to rip the parts out and give me a gutted transmission with my old parts and I'll take it like that.  He pushed me out of the door, closed the door, and said 'good luck getting your transmission and drive train back'.  At this point, I yelled that I was going to call the police and report the threatening manner and the theft of my transmission and drive train.  Got my phone, and started to dial. 

As soon as I got the operator, he came out and said that he would put the transmission/drive train back in the car, that I would have it by end of business, and that'd be the end of it.  The police operator said that she would dispatch an officer to the shop if I wanted, but I told her I'd call back if there was another problem. 

He gave me a refund and said that I am never to come back to his shop (to which I responded "believe me, I'll never come back here ever again, nor will I ever recommend it to a friend).  Once it was back together, I was able to drive it out of there, with the whining and clunk. 

I took it to the Transmission Clinic in Colorado Springs, and the owner told me that Jeff used to work for him, and that he was fired for acting this way toward customer's in the past.  The other shop pulled the transmission apart, and fixed the problem within a few days.  Because of what Pro Trans put me through, and the time that went by trying to get this car fixed, Transmisison Clinic did the work at cost to them, so I ended up saving money in the end. 

The point is that Jeff is extremely rude and unprofessional, does shoddy work, gets very mean and threatening if something gets messed up, and kept my vehicle for over two months total out of service from when I first dropped it off to him to when I picked it up that very last time.  After the first time I picked it up, every time I called him about dropping off the car or the times I mentioned above where I called to see the update, he would yell.  The whole experience was a nightmare.