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My letter to Cottman Transmission with no response

Dear Sir/Madam,

My Ford explorer is in your shop in Maple Shade New Jersey for the 5th time since September of 2010. I cannot give you the exact date as the receipt is in the vehicle. After the transmission was installed maybe 350 miles I got a light that said my overdrive was off I brought it in (2 days) and was told there was an issue with the servos (?) that Ford recommends these upgrades but that sometimes they won't work. 250 miles later a cover that is on the pan blew off dumping all of the transmission fluid in a parking lot. The Cottman that I am dealing with did not have a tow truck available at the time because their "guy" was at the auctions. It was up to me to get it towed or it would have to wait till later that day or the next day, 3 days later my vehicle is returned repaired. 250-350 miles later my overdrive light comes back on along with service engine soon light I am not sure what they did this time but they have my car another 2 days. I was told at this time if it happened again they would replace the transmission. I get my vehicle back and within 60 miles the overdrive off light is on again. I call up and tell Lou (by now I know he is the owner) who says bring it back in you know what we're going to have to do.

I have three children and a wife. I drop my car off on the 22nd of November on the 24th when it is supposed to be ready I find out they have not yet done the work because whoever they order their transmissions from delivered a transmission for an 8 cylinder explorer not a 6 cylinder. They tell me I can take my car back for the Thanksgiving holiday and that I should bring it back on Monday the 29th. I am told by Joe (seems to be Lous right hand guy) and the person doing all the work on my vehicle that my transmission will be in Monday morning and he will complete it for me on Monday. One day, Ok It's been over 2 months but this guy is trying. Monday night it's not ready, but it will definitely be ready Tuesday. Tuesday from Lou's own mouth it's not ready Joe stayed late last night to fix another guys car and that he would probably stay late tonight to get my done. No guarantee. By the way they are not replacing the transmission they broke down the defective one to try and figure out what the problem is, again I am told servos from Ford. When I asked Lou who else I could talk to he said nobody I am the owner. When I explained that I felt entitled to some kind of compensation after all he has my $1800 dollars and had my car for 9 days originally and another 10 or so in the last two months his response was that he will start my warranty over (Really?) Your going to give me a new warranty on a transmission that has not worked correctly since you originally installed it. Again I asked who he reported to, I said there must be a corporate office he said again that he didn't have to report to anyone he owned the place, I then told him I would report him to the BBB to which he replied he has been there 32 years, so go ahead.

I have been in retail and service for 28 years and the lack of concern for quality and for your customer's time and money is unbelievable. It has been up to me each time they have had my vehicle to get my own transportation. The fact that Cottman would allow an owner who obviously does not care about quality and workmanship or customer service to operate under their name is simply inconceivable.

It is obvious that I will not get any satisfaction from Cottman but I thought you should be aware of how your name is being used. Rest assured I will never use another Cottman store and will let all of my friends, family, corporate connections and so on about this horribly experience.

Monetary Loss: $1800.

Location: Washington, District Of Columbia

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Guest

I went there and I thought they were great. Fixing a transmission is a very complicated undertaking which is why a lot of places will just sell you a new transmission for 5k instead of attempting to fix the old one.

Its like heart surgery sometimes it works sometimes it is too far gone to save.

With my mazda I was very happy with the service and the results. Id recommend cottman mapleshade heartily to anyone.

Guest

Thanks Lou for commenting on this, I was afraid after I gave you the printout of this persons bad review, you were going to disregard it. I hope that you will prove your statement that you have an outstanding reputation and do my son's car right.

Seems that after having my son's car for several days,and promising it today, the parts supplier sent you the wrong part, wrong # of cylinders. So, you promised the car for us Monday, Dec 20th, I hope you deliver and we have no problems with it!

Guest

Did I have a problem with this transmission, yes I did. We do not make the parts Ford does, and in this case I used the latest up dates that Ford calls for.

After haveing the same problem with the up dated parts I changed the entire transmission and re stater this customer warranty. We have been at the same location for over 30 yrs and have an outstanding reputation.

This is the first time I have had anyone upset with us. Guess I found out you cant please evryone all the time!!

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