THE AAMCO TRANSMISSION SCAM
AAMCO transmission repair shops are famous for dishonest activies. They run two basic scams.
The first is to lure you into the shop for a "free" or low cost diagnostic, take your transmission apart then demand thousands of dollars to "repair it". The second is the bait and switch. You agree to have a repair done for a set price. They take your transmission apart then demand that you authorize more expensive repairs before they will put it back together. Many shops also stick to the old tried and true cons of charging you for work you don’t need or work not done, using old parts and overcharging for parts.
These are very simple yet effective scams that AAMCO shops have been successfully operating for years. They tried to get me back in the 70s. I am amazed that they are still getting away with this practice.
Here is my experience. I had a week’s vacation planned. It is worth mentioning that the transmission operated great up to this time. On the Friday on the way to the Lake of the Ozarks the shift cable on my old Chrysler broke. The car was able to run but you could not shift it. Luckily I was near the home of some family members. Unfortunately I had never changed a shift cable. A AAMCO shop was a few blocks away. I took the car to them and explained that I was on vacation and needed the car right away. I made it very clear that I only wanted the cable replaced because I wanted to get back on the road.
The AAMCO shop was very neat and the people acted very professional. There were no obvious indications that I had anything to worry about. A guy in a clean white shirt did all the talking. I assumed that he was the boss. He insisted that they "inspect" the transmission because it was an old car and they were concerned that I might have trouble on the road. I made it clear once again that I just wanted the cable replaced because I was in a hurry and short on money. I did not want any more work performed. I also told them that if they didn’t want to do the work I specified I would be glad to take it somewhere else. They assured me that they would only do work that was authorized.
I did not have to ask for a work order. They gave me one. It basically said that they would inspect the transmission. I asked them to add the cable repair to the document. They hand wrote cable on the work order. I asked when they would be finished and they said a couple of hours since I was traveling. I left very pleased that they were willing to get my car on the road so quickly.
A couple of hours latter I called and they said that I needed to come to the shop because they had found a problem. When I arrived they took me into the service center. They had pulled the transmission and disassembled it. My transmission was in a hundred pieces on a work bench.I was given an "estimate" of a thousand odd dollars (remember that this is in 1976 dollars). I was pissed. When I wanted to know why they removed the transmission and diasembled it I was told that I authorized it when I agreed to the inspection. Even with the transmission completely torn down I could not get a firm price. Right then and there I knew what they were pulling. They told me that I needed a complete rebuild because the bands were worn out and the transmission was ready to fail any time. The big selling point was the warranty.. I insisted that they reassemble the transmission, put it back into the car and install the cable it needed. They refused saying that I needed a repairs and it would be unethical to install a bad transmission in my car. I took a close look at the bands and they looked good to me. I have rebuilt a couple of transmissions and I knew this one was OK. I asked if they had measured the thickness to see if they were in spec. I was told that because the fluid was brown the bands were worn out. The fluid was in good shape, red not brown. I tried to talk to the mechanic but he just looked really embarrassed and said I had to talk to the boss.
We argued for a while and no one would give. I was told that the "manager" would have to OK rigging up and installing a bad transmission in my car. I said "I thought you were the manager".Mr white shirt said he was not the manager. I was told that the manger would be in tomorrow which was a Saturday.
I left.
I started calling Saturday morning. No manager.
They were closed Sunday.
Monday I started calling again, no manager.
Tuesday, no manager. So I went down again. No luck. They refused to reinstall the transmission. By now I was ballistic. My vacation was ruined and it looked like I was screwed. I was more or less a refugee staying at a in-laws house. They were offering to loan me the money to have the work done and probably convinced that I had a screw loose because I didn’t just pay-up get my car and leave.
I spent the rest of the day calling everybody I could think of. BBB etc. Basically I could file a written complaint and sooner or later something might happen.
Wednesday and Thursday no luck. At this point. I was considering physical assault. On Friday I called the local police. This was before the days of 911 so you could actually talk to a policeman. My in laws knew one of the local police and I explained what was going on. He was aware of the scams these guys pulled. They had apparently established a bad reputation in the area. Two cops went to AAMCO with me and basically told Mr White shirt that if my car was not put back in the condition as received I could file fraud charges. They also made it very clear that the police department would make a very good effort to investigate the complaint. The AAMCO guy agreed to put my car back together. I was told I could pick it up on Tuesday.
I missed work on Monday. I also missed work on Tuesday. I picked the car up on Tuesday.
It’s worth mentioning that they tried to get me to pay a bill of several hundred dollars for putting my transmission together and reinstalling it. The bill included a few bucks for gaskets the rest was for labor. I literally told them to get fucked. When they refused to give up the car I told them I would be glad to come back with the police. I got my keys. I never did get to meet the mystery manager.
I limped to a car parts store. Bought the cable. I installed the cable in the car parts parking lot In about 45 minutes. The transmission operated fine for the next two years that I owned the old beater.
Think I’m alone? Check out a few hundred other complaints: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/aamco.htm
RIPP OFF REPORT
These are just a couple of places. Do a search yourself and you will find hundreds of other complaints about AAMCO.
A Free AAMCO inspection: $700
A $2000 AAMCO rebuild: $3000
A clear head shot at Mr Whiteshirt with no witnesess around: priceless!
1. From Wikipedia: AAMCO is an American-based transmission-repair franchise founded by Robert Morgan and Anthony A. Martino (for whom the acronym AAMCO was named) in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Martino eventually left to manage the MAACO autobody franchise, but Morgan stayed on with his son, Keith Morgan, succeeding him as CEO. There are now 700 AAMCO stores in the US and Canada.
