Complaint Review: Nationwide Remanufacturing - Internet Internet

Called Lee Jenkins on January 22 and got a quote for remanufactured tranny.  Ordered "remanufactured" transmission from Lee Jenkins of Nationwide Remanufacturing back on February 21st for 2004 Ford Explorer at cost of $1,340.00 after waiting about a month for my tax refund to come through. Received message from Josh Fite, shipping manager, on February 27th that transmission never shipped because it was not a match for my vehicle by production date.  Nationwide issued a refund to my card without explanation.

I asked Lee if he could re-process the order.  He said he could, but there would a short "delay" because he could not immediately source a suitable core.  This was on March 1.  On March 8, I again called Lee, who informed he that the new tranny had not shipped because he had to mate a Ford OEM torque converter with the rest of the tranny.  Never did Lee ever spontaneously offer up any status updates without repeated inquiries from me.  He seemed equally indifferent when I told him that I was having to rent a car on account of repeated delays.  Always seemed to act like he was doing me a favor even selling me this transmission.

Finally, on March 15, the transmission was tested and shipped from Texas to California.  No tracking number was provided even after repeated requests.  I was told simply that it was guaranteed to arrive by March 25, and that was that.  Again, Lee was totally unsympathetic, which was consistent with his crappy, "so what" attitude with just about everything that we discussed.

On the morning of March 28, I get a call from my mechanic and heard his dreaded assessment that the transmission is bad.  I should have seen these red flags coming.  Apparently, even though their transmissions are supposedly "dyno tested" before they leave the factory, I had waited over a month for a transmission that was DOA.  It had delayed engagement and was giving off slip codes.  There was insufficient hydraulic pressure necessary to change the gear ratio.  I called Lee back, who, was characteristically nonplussed.  I put him in touch with my mechanic.  Apparently, Lee believed the solenoid block was defective and said he would "rush-deliver" the fix the following business day.  Fat chance of that happening.  By now, I have $600.00 in labor and materials invested in this thing--still with no workable transmission.  On April 1, 2013, I spoke to a certified transmission repair specialist, who warned me about ordering transmissions online from Texas and Arizona.  Apparently, neither state has a Bureau of Automotive Repair nor any set regulatory standards for what constitutes a "rebuilt" or "remanufactured" transmission.  He expressed little if any confidence that the solenoid block would fix the problem and make this piece of crap transmission shift like it is supposed to.  Lee will not give any information to my mechanic about warranting the repair--which probably means their so-called warranty is probably as useless as the transmission they sold me.  When I asked him how confident he was that the solenoid pack would do the trick, I could sense that he was only suggesting it out of desperation that it "could work."

I am going to be following up with the BBB and the Texas Attorney General's office.  Beware of Nationwide Remanufacturing!  They have no customer service, and no reliable history with selling remanufactured transmissions.  They have no mechanical background, and I have little confidence they know what they're doing in this business.  They are flaky at best, unscrupulous at worst.