Complaint Review: aamco transmission - Shreveport Louisiana

The name rudy badzik makes me sick. Im the new owner of both aamco centers in sherevport la. Its going to take years to clean up his bad name. Every thing that i just read about him true. The guy has tried to snake me on every turn. And by the way im looking for a good builder, I offer a good starting wage, paid holidays.health ins., weekends off. paid vacations. And for any and all that have been Rudyitized give me a call if i can help you out. G.P.K

the real name for this company is scaamco

the real name for this company is scaamco

the real name for this company is scaamco

You HAD to mention RUDY BADZIK's name! I was trying my damdest to forget him and here ya went and brought it up again.... A few years back, I had a Buick and it was just starting to slip, and being completely mechanically illiterate, I took it to Rudy's Aamco. He tells me, He's gonna take it for a test drive. I naturally told him I'm going with him. he agrees. He's driving, we come out onto 70th st. go the four blocks to jewella Ave, , turn the corner and he gets the car up to 40 MPH and the stupid b*****d THROWS IT INTO REVERSE ! Tells me he's checking the transmission's "response"! WELL DUH ! that big a*s popping noise musta gave it away... So now we're back at the shop. He's putting the car up on the lift. They start taking the pan off and does his little "inspection" comes back and tells me....you ready for this ??? MY REVERSE GEAR IS HISTORY ! I need a rebuild. I figure this guys a friggin whacko, so i tell him just put the car back together that I can't afford his $1700.00 tranny job. Thats when it got FUN... he tells me in "good conscience" he can't let me leave there in the shape the tranny's in, So I figure, OK , i'll tell him i don't have the cash and I'll have to call my dad and ask him for it. Rudy disappears for about two minutes. ( Now keep in mind my car was in the LAST BAY on the NE corner of the shop ) All of a sudden Rudy comes running out of the office with a phone and ABOUT 200 FEET OF FRIGGIN CORD ON IT and walks over to me at my car and goes " here ya go call your dad". Unfrigginbelievable, this guy has an answer for everything! So when that didn't work, I end up calling a Police Sargeant I know who's On SPD, i tell him what the problem is. Well he goes in to "chat" with Rudy about my car. After about 5 minutes Rudy comes out, looks like he got run over by a truck, his hair's messed up, ties all sideways, glasses crooked. He tells me, as a courtesy they are gonna put my tranny back together and give me a new filter and fluid for FREE ! and proceeds to have someone do so, and gives me an inspection report to " show my dad what's wrong with my tranny". the car was FINE in reverse before the "road test". I guess i WAS LUCKY to just get my car out of there without owing him anything, ( not including now i'd have to get the tranny fixed for sure ). I had almost totally forgot about " RIP OFF RUDY " until you mentioned his name. Just thought I'd throw my story in too....

Tranzman you know about little down the road from you they cry every time the radio reports a traffic jam at the boarder, Or should I say they use to but now with that new law down there in Cal they won't have to will they?

Dear Sir: I am a Certified Master Auto Technician with 30 years experience in the transmission business. 17 of those years I have been self-employed. I have worked for new car dealerships, franchises (including Aamco), independents, and general repair shops that do transmissions. I'm here to offer tips on how to avoid transmission repair fiascos. First, and foremost, document EVERYTHING and make sure the shop KNOWS you are documenting things. If the person you are dealing with is not writing down what your concerns are, the chance of the shop "dropping the ball" are very high. By definition, automotive people aren't good communicators. We work with inantimate objects all day long and human interaction is a very small part of our day. It has taken me over a quarter of a century to be able to communicate on the level I do. Automotive people with good communications skills are very rare. Remember that. Sometimes they just forget. If YOU forget, it's no big deal. If we forget, it can easily be percieved as being dishonest. If you make a mistake in any other profession, it's just a part of being human. In this field, again, it's a sign of being somewhere between a politician and a common criminal. Secondly, pay with a credit card. Whether you know it or not, you have a recourse with a credit card. Send a letter to the credit card company that you are dissatisfied with the service and they will back-charge the shop before the shop knows about it. They will get a letter about 2-3 days after the money is withdrawn from their checking account and credited to your charge card. Third, use small claims court. By and large, a transmission shop is guilty until proven innocent. A smart transmission shop will avoid court at all costs. The reason being; even if they were to win (slim chance), they still lose because of the 40-50 or so people in courtroom see that shop's representative and they stereotype the shop. The surmise "There must be SOME basis for this case, or the customer wouldn't be here." Fourth, shop warranty, not price. In my 30-year career, I have yet to see my first planned transmission failure. It always happens when you don't expect it. Furthermore, nobody ever saves money for a transmission failure, so the event is very traumatic, to say the least. 9 times out of 10 people will shop price. I don't care if you pay $1K, $2K, $3K, or more...it's a lot of unexpected expense and the LAST thing you need to do is shop price. Shop warranty. 5th, make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the warranty. Many lengthy warranties require regular scheduled maintenence and you have to keep records of that. The transmission flush that the Quick-Lube place do usually don't qualify for scheduled maintenence because they don't remove the pan, clean the sump, and change the filter, as required. Last, but not least...if something smells fishy, get a second opinion. I am proud I have chosen the career I have. I'll never get rich, but I've always been able to support my family. You must remember that each individual Aamco is independently owned. To make a blanket statement that ALL Aamcos are rip-offs is not only unfair, but untrue. What I find in our industry today is not so much larcenous rip-offs as I do just flat INCOMPETENCE and honest-to-goodness, flat MIS-DIAGNOSIS. Pure and simple. A lot of strong emotions of contempt, anger, and frustration from having spent more money that you probably had just adds fuel to the fire. I know some very competent Aamcos. I also know some incompetent ones. It's the competent ones that fade all the heat from the bad apples in the barrel. For those of you that are still skeptical of transmission shops, there is enough FREE information on the Internet where anybody with just average intellegence can make a reasonable determination of how serious their transmission problem is. What I see the most often, (by Do-It-Yourselfers and flakey transmission shops alike) that is really frustrating to me, is that with all the newer transmissions being computer controlled, oftentimes a perceived transmission malfunction can be caused by some sort of ELECTRICAL problem and not necessarily the transmisson itself. I would like to list the name, address, & phone number of our shop, but, knowing how the public views transmissions shops, it would be perceived as this response being self-serving. So I won't. Thanks for taking the time to read the thoughts of "somebody in the trenches" of transmission repair.

Dear Sir: I am a Certified Master Auto Technician with 30 years experience in the transmission business. 17 of those years I have been self-employed. I have worked for new car dealerships, franchises (including Aamco), independents, and general repair shops that do transmissions. I'm here to offer tips on how to avoid transmission repair fiascos. First, and foremost, document EVERYTHING and make sure the shop KNOWS you are documenting things. If the person you are dealing with is not writing down what your concerns are, the chance of the shop "dropping the ball" are very high. By definition, automotive people aren't good communicators. We work with inantimate objects all day long and human interaction is a very small part of our day. It has taken me over a quarter of a century to be able to communicate on the level I do. Automotive people with good communications skills are very rare. Remember that. Sometimes they just forget. If YOU forget, it's no big deal. If we forget, it can easily be percieved as being dishonest. If you make a mistake in any other profession, it's just a part of being human. In this field, again, it's a sign of being somewhere between a politician and a common criminal. Secondly, pay with a credit card. Whether you know it or not, you have a recourse with a credit card. Send a letter to the credit card company that you are dissatisfied with the service and they will back-charge the shop before the shop knows about it. They will get a letter about 2-3 days after the money is withdrawn from their checking account and credited to your charge card. Third, use small claims court. By and large, a transmission shop is guilty until proven innocent. A smart transmission shop will avoid court at all costs. The reason being; even if they were to win (slim chance), they still lose because of the 40-50 or so people in courtroom see that shop's representative and they stereotype the shop. The surmise "There must be SOME basis for this case, or the customer wouldn't be here." Fourth, shop warranty, not price. In my 30-year career, I have yet to see my first planned transmission failure. It always happens when you don't expect it. Furthermore, nobody ever saves money for a transmission failure, so the event is very traumatic, to say the least. 9 times out of 10 people will shop price. I don't care if you pay $1K, $2K, $3K, or more...it's a lot of unexpected expense and the LAST thing you need to do is shop price. Shop warranty. 5th, make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the warranty. Many lengthy warranties require regular scheduled maintenence and you have to keep records of that. The transmission flush that the Quick-Lube place do usually don't qualify for scheduled maintenence because they don't remove the pan, clean the sump, and change the filter, as required. Last, but not least...if something smells fishy, get a second opinion. I am proud I have chosen the career I have. I'll never get rich, but I've always been able to support my family. You must remember that each individual Aamco is independently owned. To make a blanket statement that ALL Aamcos are rip-offs is not only unfair, but untrue. What I find in our industry today is not so much larcenous rip-offs as I do just flat INCOMPETENCE and honest-to-goodness, flat MIS-DIAGNOSIS. Pure and simple. A lot of strong emotions of contempt, anger, and frustration from having spent more money that you probably had just adds fuel to the fire. I know some very competent Aamcos. I also know some incompetent ones. It's the competent ones that fade all the heat from the bad apples in the barrel. For those of you that are still skeptical of transmission shops, there is enough FREE information on the Internet where anybody with just average intellegence can make a reasonable determination of how serious their transmission problem is. What I see the most often, (by Do-It-Yourselfers and flakey transmission shops alike) that is really frustrating to me, is that with all the newer transmissions being computer controlled, oftentimes a perceived transmission malfunction can be caused by some sort of ELECTRICAL problem and not necessarily the transmisson itself. I would like to list the name, address, & phone number of our shop, but, knowing how the public views transmissions shops, it would be perceived as this response being self-serving. So I won't. Thanks for taking the time to read the thoughts of "somebody in the trenches" of transmission repair.

Dear Sir: I am a Certified Master Auto Technician with 30 years experience in the transmission business. 17 of those years I have been self-employed. I have worked for new car dealerships, franchises (including Aamco), independents, and general repair shops that do transmissions. I'm here to offer tips on how to avoid transmission repair fiascos. First, and foremost, document EVERYTHING and make sure the shop KNOWS you are documenting things. If the person you are dealing with is not writing down what your concerns are, the chance of the shop "dropping the ball" are very high. By definition, automotive people aren't good communicators. We work with inantimate objects all day long and human interaction is a very small part of our day. It has taken me over a quarter of a century to be able to communicate on the level I do. Automotive people with good communications skills are very rare. Remember that. Sometimes they just forget. If YOU forget, it's no big deal. If we forget, it can easily be percieved as being dishonest. If you make a mistake in any other profession, it's just a part of being human. In this field, again, it's a sign of being somewhere between a politician and a common criminal. Secondly, pay with a credit card. Whether you know it or not, you have a recourse with a credit card. Send a letter to the credit card company that you are dissatisfied with the service and they will back-charge the shop before the shop knows about it. They will get a letter about 2-3 days after the money is withdrawn from their checking account and credited to your charge card. Third, use small claims court. By and large, a transmission shop is guilty until proven innocent. A smart transmission shop will avoid court at all costs. The reason being; even if they were to win (slim chance), they still lose because of the 40-50 or so people in courtroom see that shop's representative and they stereotype the shop. The surmise "There must be SOME basis for this case, or the customer wouldn't be here." Fourth, shop warranty, not price. In my 30-year career, I have yet to see my first planned transmission failure. It always happens when you don't expect it. Furthermore, nobody ever saves money for a transmission failure, so the event is very traumatic, to say the least. 9 times out of 10 people will shop price. I don't care if you pay $1K, $2K, $3K, or more...it's a lot of unexpected expense and the LAST thing you need to do is shop price. Shop warranty. 5th, make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the warranty. Many lengthy warranties require regular scheduled maintenence and you have to keep records of that. The transmission flush that the Quick-Lube place do usually don't qualify for scheduled maintenence because they don't remove the pan, clean the sump, and change the filter, as required. Last, but not least...if something smells fishy, get a second opinion. I am proud I have chosen the career I have. I'll never get rich, but I've always been able to support my family. You must remember that each individual Aamco is independently owned. To make a blanket statement that ALL Aamcos are rip-offs is not only unfair, but untrue. What I find in our industry today is not so much larcenous rip-offs as I do just flat INCOMPETENCE and honest-to-goodness, flat MIS-DIAGNOSIS. Pure and simple. A lot of strong emotions of contempt, anger, and frustration from having spent more money that you probably had just adds fuel to the fire. I know some very competent Aamcos. I also know some incompetent ones. It's the competent ones that fade all the heat from the bad apples in the barrel. For those of you that are still skeptical of transmission shops, there is enough FREE information on the Internet where anybody with just average intellegence can make a reasonable determination of how serious their transmission problem is. What I see the most often, (by Do-It-Yourselfers and flakey transmission shops alike) that is really frustrating to me, is that with all the newer transmissions being computer controlled, oftentimes a perceived transmission malfunction can be caused by some sort of ELECTRICAL problem and not necessarily the transmisson itself. I would like to list the name, address, & phone number of our shop, but, knowing how the public views transmissions shops, it would be perceived as this response being self-serving. So I won't. Thanks for taking the time to read the thoughts of "somebody in the trenches" of transmission repair.

Dear Sir: I am a Certified Master Auto Technician with 30 years experience in the transmission business. 17 of those years I have been self-employed. I have worked for new car dealerships, franchises (including Aamco), independents, and general repair shops that do transmissions. I'm here to offer tips on how to avoid transmission repair fiascos. First, and foremost, document EVERYTHING and make sure the shop KNOWS you are documenting things. If the person you are dealing with is not writing down what your concerns are, the chance of the shop "dropping the ball" are very high. By definition, automotive people aren't good communicators. We work with inantimate objects all day long and human interaction is a very small part of our day. It has taken me over a quarter of a century to be able to communicate on the level I do. Automotive people with good communications skills are very rare. Remember that. Sometimes they just forget. If YOU forget, it's no big deal. If we forget, it can easily be percieved as being dishonest. If you make a mistake in any other profession, it's just a part of being human. In this field, again, it's a sign of being somewhere between a politician and a common criminal. Secondly, pay with a credit card. Whether you know it or not, you have a recourse with a credit card. Send a letter to the credit card company that you are dissatisfied with the service and they will back-charge the shop before the shop knows about it. They will get a letter about 2-3 days after the money is withdrawn from their checking account and credited to your charge card. Third, use small claims court. By and large, a transmission shop is guilty until proven innocent. A smart transmission shop will avoid court at all costs. The reason being; even if they were to win (slim chance), they still lose because of the 40-50 or so people in courtroom see that shop's representative and they stereotype the shop. The surmise "There must be SOME basis for this case, or the customer wouldn't be here." Fourth, shop warranty, not price. In my 30-year career, I have yet to see my first planned transmission failure. It always happens when you don't expect it. Furthermore, nobody ever saves money for a transmission failure, so the event is very traumatic, to say the least. 9 times out of 10 people will shop price. I don't care if you pay $1K, $2K, $3K, or more...it's a lot of unexpected expense and the LAST thing you need to do is shop price. Shop warranty. 5th, make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the warranty. Many lengthy warranties require regular scheduled maintenence and you have to keep records of that. The transmission flush that the Quick-Lube place do usually don't qualify for scheduled maintenence because they don't remove the pan, clean the sump, and change the filter, as required. Last, but not least...if something smells fishy, get a second opinion. I am proud I have chosen the career I have. I'll never get rich, but I've always been able to support my family. You must remember that each individual Aamco is independently owned. To make a blanket statement that ALL Aamcos are rip-offs is not only unfair, but untrue. What I find in our industry today is not so much larcenous rip-offs as I do just flat INCOMPETENCE and honest-to-goodness, flat MIS-DIAGNOSIS. Pure and simple. A lot of strong emotions of contempt, anger, and frustration from having spent more money that you probably had just adds fuel to the fire. I know some very competent Aamcos. I also know some incompetent ones. It's the competent ones that fade all the heat from the bad apples in the barrel. For those of you that are still skeptical of transmission shops, there is enough FREE information on the Internet where anybody with just average intellegence can make a reasonable determination of how serious their transmission problem is. What I see the most often, (by Do-It-Yourselfers and flakey transmission shops alike) that is really frustrating to me, is that with all the newer transmissions being computer controlled, oftentimes a perceived transmission malfunction can be caused by some sort of ELECTRICAL problem and not necessarily the transmisson itself. I would like to list the name, address, & phone number of our shop, but, knowing how the public views transmissions shops, it would be perceived as this response being self-serving. So I won't. Thanks for taking the time to read the thoughts of "somebody in the trenches" of transmission repair.

Just before I went to work there, every one had walked off the job but of coarse he made promises old Rudy was good for that. He talked them into coming back and computerized his office so he could ripped them off even more. He's also the kind of employer who on pay day you never see your pay check he cashes it for you man you don't ever want to work for people like that.

Norman~~~if it did go the way you suggested~~~~numbers could go up~~~~if you found a union to make it work~~~the prices may go up for the consumer but the quality and value would also go up. I belong to (2) unions yeah itz costs sumthin but i can also write it off on my taxes~~~with all total itz bout 44-45 dollars an hour~~i'm sure there its about 10-12 an hour but the owners are still charging the 1.5-3000 per job~~~with the least amount invested. If you could get more builders involved and AWARE of the options you could make a difference~~~~~~plus the training the customers could also benifit if itz in the contract for training plus gloves to protect your skin from the chemicals so you won't die from liver damage. THE TRANZMN

nice post there greg, operators conspiring to keep wages too low is common within the industry, those same operators are the ones who will not spend the money to purchase the nesecary equiptment to properly diagnoise a transmission, and the end result the consumer gets the shaft in the end, why they paid too much for too little. So what is the cure for this problem. ALL REBUILDERS LISTEN UP!!! do not go to work for them, unless they will cough up the mega bucks we desearve. yes you heard me right, the only reason they pay you peanuts is cause you will take it. so all you rebuilders down in shreveport louisana what i want you to do is this, put some money aside for the next 60 days to take care of your famlies, at the end of those 60 days, slam your tool boxes shut, take em home (get a job at mickey dee's for the next 60 days) start looking for an inexpensive garage to rent. within 30 days every franchise tranny shop in your area will be closed down, it takes appox 8600 per week for a franchise to operate, now there cbs are pilling up because they were to cheap to invest in there most important assett (us) and the proper equipt, and there is no one to rebuild units for new customers so they can collect the cash to operate. when they fold you and your little makeshift garage can go to work, the money you collect invest back into the buzness build it up, join atra or atsg. it is all supply and demand, the consumer has a demand, they want there cars fixed right, your boss demands you work for peanuts and you do the supplying, your boss needs you more than you need him, you have to turn it around you demand and let the boss do the supplying for a change, the only way it works is if all builders in the area agree to it, and stick to it, i guarntee within 30 days you can double or triple your income. who they gonna call the home office "please send me a builder" sorry not enough of us to go around anymore, we got tired of being treated like grease mokeys by the emplyer and home offices and took up better jobs, like where you do not have to work for 70 hours a week, you get medical coverage, and the boss actually sends in the tax dollars he took out of your peanut bag. want a laugh go to your local social security office get a form fill it out, and see how many years your boss forgot to pay the ss he stole from your check every week. me and my old co workers did, we were in stitches when the judgments came down, tax man wanted over 400k from them stealing bammma"s, we did not have to beg them for our pay checks on time anymore. so why is it the home office won't help them find a builder (as if they really could) the answer is right here >>>>money money money, the home offices just prays to the almighty dollar that an operator goes belly up, you know why, cause they get it all back for free and then they turn around and sell the joint to some other mooron for 140k, i know that for a fact i used to go into these belly up broke centers for home office and fix it while they find a new sucker, to loose another 100k, of course i made money money money too. i could write a book about the real facts of this industry and franchises. just say NO to the franchises and they will crumble away, then the consumer is still there who needs there cars fixed, and tag your it!!!!

Jimmy I really feel sorry for you I worked up there in the early 80s. If I remember right there are two Aamcos there owned by the same man. Theres a problem in that area it seems that most of the shop owners and I don't mean just Aamco got together and made a deal where no one would pay more than this set price to the employees. This causes a problem see these type of areas either have the ones on the way up or the ones who have burned out and are on the way down at the time I was on the way up. But what happens are you get a lot of employee turn out through the year those who want to provide for thier familly move on as soon as they can and thoose that stay don't care or are just to stupid to know. What you need to do is take your truck out of the area you will get it fixed there. But I use to love to get inter shop warranties from thoose two shops but so did a lot of others builders and salesman lets say he paid for it.