A friend was just ripped off in a manner that was eerily similar to
some thing
that happened to me years ago. I wish I had warned her. I hope this
post can
save you from the same thing happening to you.

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.

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 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 and had no tools with me. 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 while
it was there 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 few 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  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. 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 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 f.cked. 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

http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q5=aamco&submit2=Search%21&q4=&q6
=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0

These are just a couple of places. Do a search 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 witnesses 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.