Complaint Review: Cottman Aamco Transmission - Howell Michigan

I wanted to give you some input about Cottman Transmissions and AAMCO Transmissions. Cottman and AAMCO are both owned by the same holdings company, however, nothing about the brands are the same. AAMCO and Cottman both have seperate upper management and both brands hold individual corporate policies. Cottman is becoming a "dead" brand. Most of the Cottman Transmission Center owners have already agreed to adopt the AAMCO franchise agreement that offers much higher standards of business and the AAMCO consumer affairs department offers much more protection to the consumer from rogue center managers. You should have received paperwork from your the instance when your transmission failed under warranty. There is no disputing that, however, I would recommend that you call the Cottman Home Office, the number can be found on your original repair order, and see what type of assitance they can provide you regarding your mishap at the Cottman center. If Cottman refuses to provide you with the assistance that you need, I would then file a complaint with the attorney general in the state that you reside in. I would like to point out, that your transmission failed under warranty and was repaired while you were in warranty. There is no law that requires them to extend the duration of your original warranty. I understand that you are upset that your transmission failed again, especially after your warranty has ended, but, the best way to resolve this matter is as peacefully as possible. Threatening them and badgering them certainly will not work.

Chris Anderson! It's really ashame that the only way to get a response from you was through a "personal vendetta".chris,you seem to miss the fact that your "techs" replaced the 3-4 clutch pack at about 10,500 miles and lucky for me eleven and a half months.Check the dates!This is the same 3-4 clutch pack that failed 4,000 miles later!I did not initially question your techs' ability as much as I questioned component quality.(Transtar components-an inquiry into their origin of manufacture has been requested.contact-Mark Waxman,Transtar.) C hris,your boy called the police,but they never showed.check Howell Police daily log.I wonder if you find it amazing that out of the 300-400 inter-related parts in My transmission, that I would have a failure of the EXACT SAME COMPONENT(the 3-4 clutch)once at 10,500 miles and again at 4,000 miles? As for the reaction to your offer,the verbal abuse came from walking,towing and renting vehicles AFTER paying $1910.96 for a transmission repair.Don't try to cover short term repair practices with warranty offers.The original trans. came with a 12month/12,000 mile warranty and it lasted 160,000 miles with all of my driving habits! How many of the 14 years of service to the area under YOUR OWNER-SHIP? Only asking because the Better Business Bureau says and I quote "Based on BBB files,this company has an UNSATISFACTORY record with the Bureau due to a failure to respond to a complaint.alleging dissatisfaction with the repairs made by the company." Y our absentee owner-ship has left you mis-informed.But it suits the way the store does business.They are on you like bees on honey when you have your check book out, but when your front man can't make the call,he says he can only talk to you after work.This streched out for a couple days.Your plan is to take the money hope all goes well.When things go wrong,stall them ,park the truck in a back lot.Wear them down; soon they fold and pay for the repair or just go away and lick their wounds.Well Chris,I think your offer of half of a trans. is fair -barely-.But on My terms.The trans was replaced by an independent transmission shop for slightly less than $1600. Lets see what kind of a man you are.It's still splitting the cost.You know,you haven't heard from me since I was in your shop,but I have not heard from you either!Call me and we can sort this out.

Please excuse my ignorance as I am no mechanic... Was the part that failed last after 4K miles part of the rebuid that was performed 14 months earlier? Was it part of the work that was done under warranty? Or was it another component not previously worked on? Thanks.

The repair that Mr. Baker questions was necessary roughly 16000 miles and 14 months from the original warranted repair. Even though the vehicle was beyond the agreed upon warranty period of 12 months/12,000 miles, a good will offer to split the cost was extended to Mr. Baker. At that point, Mr. Baker became verbally abusive and threatening and it was necessary to call the police to remove him from our premises. Mr. Baker has not contacted us since. Rather, he has been waging a personal vendetta with Cottman home office, various internet sites, etc. Please be aware there are many factors that can affect the life of a transmission. Most automatic transmissions contain 300-400 inter-related parts. As such, it is not typically the rebuilder's fault if a transmission fails after a year or 12,000 miles. Rebuilder errors usually show up much sooner. Other factors can come into play such as vehicle usage and driving habits. Towing, off road usage or extended high speed driving are examples that are beyond our control. So there is some possibility a failure is the rebuilder's fault but also some possibility customer usage is a factor. We should also mention we offer our customers an extended warranty plan for a nominal fee. Mr. Baker elected to not purchase the extended warranty. For these reasons, we feel the good will offer we extended to Mr. Baker was fair. Our technicians are certified as required by the state. Our rebuilder has over 30 years experience and our general technician has over twenty years experience. They had been keeping their state certificates in their tool boxes but recently were asked to display them in the front office, as required by law. Cottman Transmissions has been proudly serving Howell and Livingston County for over 14 years. Literally thousands of satisfied customers have passed through our doors. We deeply regret Mr. Baker was not happy with the service he received from us. Chris Anderson Owner Jim Hasson Center Manager