Complaint Review: Tanner Transmission

Tanner Transmission is holding my car hostage.

Dealing with these people has been a nightmare from the get go! To begin with, we live in Orem. We saw their advertisements on Television and the warranties that they offer and therefore, thought "Okay, this is a good company, lets take our car there." Even though they were located in Salt Lake City, we were willing to deal with the distance as we thought they were a reputable company. We contacted Tanner Transmission to have our car picked up by their tow truck driver.

Dealing with the tow truck driver should have been our first indication that this company had issues. We provided Adrian, the manager at the Sandy location, with our address in Orem, on our initial contact with Tanner Transmission. In today's modern world of technology, you would think that a person would have enough common sense to get driving directions to a home address, by looking it up on the Internet. This was not the case on February 12th, we received a phone call in the morning from the tow truck driving wanting to get directions to our home. We provided him with the directions and he said he would be there in about one hour. Well about one hour later, we got a phone call again from the tow truck driver indicating that he was unable to locate the home. He wanted more specific directions.

No joke, finally after about three phone calls from the tow truck driver, I literally had to stay on the phone with him and provide point by point directions as he got to a specific landmark. I specifically had to say things like, okay do you see R.C. Willey, turn right on that street, it is Main street, go down to the four way stop etc. Finally the car was picked up and taken to Tanner Transmission in Sandy. This was February 12th.

On February 17th, having received no word from Tanner Transmission as to what was wrong with the car; I called them to find out if the transmission was in fact bad. Adrian informed me that the transmission was shot and would need to be replaced. I asked him how much it would cost to have the transmission replaced and he indicated that it would be about $1700. I told Adrian that I would have to discuss this with Brock, my fianc, to approve the car to be fixed. Brock, who usually deals with these matters, was in the hospital at this time, as he has pancreatitis. On February 22nd, Brock contacted Adrian and instructed him to repair the transmission. Adrian then informed him that the actual replacement transmission would be $2500, rather than $1700. This was a huge difference then the original quote, but what choice did we have. Adrian faxed the service agreement to me that same day, and I immediately signed it and faxed it back to him, approving the work to begin.

On February 25th, again having received no word from Tanner Transmission as to the status of the car, I contacted Adrian to see if it had been repaired. Adrian informed me that when the rebuilt transmission had been put it, it shorted out and they were trying to find out why it shorted out. I asked him to give me an update on the car as things progressed. Of course, I received no phone calls from him.

On March 7th, I contacted Adrian again to find out the status of the car. He said, "We are putting the transmission in, as we speak and the car should be ready in a few days. I informed him that Brock was in the hospital and that we may not be able to pick the car up for a few days, he said that is fine, I will let you know when the car is ready.

On March 14th, again, having received no word from Adrian, I called him again to find out the status of the car. Adrian informed me that the car had to be taken to a different location, as they were not able to determine the problem. I asked Adrian at that time to call me at the end of the day to give me an update as to the status of the car. Adrian did not call.

On March 16th, I called Adrian again, to find out the status of the car, he informed me that the car had to be taken to yet another location, that was more advanced in electronic issues. He assured me that the person who was going to work on the car could get it fixed. I asked Adrian to call me at the end of the day to give me an update as to the status of the car. Adrian did not call.

On March 17th, Brock and I made a three way call to Adrian to find out what was going on with the car. Adrian informed us that the mechanic had located a short in the wiring and that the car should be repaired and ready to be picked up by Friday, Saturday at the latest. I asked Adrian to give me a call at the end of the day to give me an update as to the status of the car. Adrian did not call.

On March 18th, I called Tanner Transmission to find out if the car would be ready to be picked up by 5:00 pm. The gentleman that answered the phone said that Adrian was not in, but that he could contact the location where the car was at to find out the status of the car. After being on hold for several minutes, he informed me that he was not able to obtain any information on the car. I asked him for the location of where the car was so that I could call them directly. I then called 466-5525 - 1833 S State Street Location, and spoke to man, who at that time, I did not know was a manger. He informed me that he had nothing to report to me and that he did not know when the car would be fixed. He said that he had just got a part in that day for the car and was planning on putting it in after lunch. This story was completely contrary to anything that Adrian had told me prior. I did not know that they were waiting for a part for the car; I thought that they were fixing an electrical probably. By this point, I lost my temper and informed Jim that he had had my car in his possession for over a month and that I was getting very frustrated. I asked him why, I had not ever been contact by Tanner Transmission to give me a progress report on the car, why I had to call every time to find out what was going on etc. He said, I'm not going to call you, if I have nothing to report. Here I am thinking you have my 1993 Toyota Lexus, in your possession, I'm paying you $2500 to fix it and you cannot call me to give me updates on the status of the repair work. I asked him what I was paying him $2500 for and he said "Have you paid me any money yet." That was his answer.

The conversation went on in a heated manner and Jim eventually said "Lady, the more time you spend yelling at me on the phone, the more time it takes away from me fixing your car." I asked to speak to the owner Blaine Tanner and was informed that he was not in and that he never took phone calls. Jim then said you are speaking to Jim Tanner. I then made the connection that Blaine and Jim Tanner were related. I knew I was going to get nowhere with Jim. I asked Jim to call me at the end of the day to let me know if the car would be ready to be picked and he informed me that he would do so.

Today, March 21, we still do not have a car and of course have received no word from Tanner Transmission as to the status of the car. At this point, I have completely lost faith in Tanner Transmission and am now concerned that the work they have done on my car will be shoty to say the least. I am so frustrated; I don't know what to do. They are not registered with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB has indicated the following:
"Tanner Transmission does not qualify for membership in the Better Business Bureau due to unanswered and unresolved complaints. Based on BBB files this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to a pattern of complaints which state dissatisfaction with repairs performed. Although most complaints processed by the Bureau in its three year reporting period have been resolved, some remain unanswered and others were closed as unresolved." In my research on the company, after the fact, I have also discovered that Bill Gephardt has also been in touch with Tanner Transmissions, and the owner Blaine Tanner's attitude was so what. I'm not going to assist the customer because she contacted you.

I have also discovered that since 1998 they have had at least 15 Judgments rendered against them by customers who brought legal action against them I now know to do serious research on a company before doing business with them. Even if they have my car ready today, I will never be satisfied with my experience dealing with Tanner Transmission. I will inform everyone I know not to do business with them.

Also, anyone who has had bad experiences with Tanner Transmission should file a complaint with the Utah State Division of Consumer Protection. The complaint process can be found at www.commerce.utah.gov/dcp/enforcement/complaint.html. Tanner Transmission should have their business license revoked, in the State of Utah. The more complaints that the Division of Consumer Protection receives the better the chances of this happening are.

Samantha
Provo, Utah
U.S.A.

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