Cottman Transmission (NO GOOD)

[PHOENIX]

To make this brief:

My brother-in-law won a contest held by Cottman Transmission of Mesa Arizona.
www.cottmanmesa.com
They are a franchise of Cottman Transmission
www.cottman.com

The contest was held at a golf resort for Ford fleet personal.
Yes he works for Ford, but that’s not my complaint
The contest was as follows:
Hit a transmission case with a golf ball from 40-50 yards and win a free transmission.
The only exclusion was no commercial vehicles.
He hit the transmission case, winning the contest.
The owner approached him and told him congratulations and they took a picture together.
The owner (or President of the Mesa franchise) took out his business card and wrote on the back "one free transmission golf contest" then signed his name. He then told him to pick out a transmission and let him know.
My brother-in-law told me I could have it and to tell him what transmission I wanted.
I told him Muncie M-22. I called the Mesa location to see if they stocked them.
"Yes we have tons of them".
My brother-in-law called and told them he is the winner and wants to pick up the transmission.
They told him they do not have any of those transmissions. They lied to me about stocking them.
Later it came out that they tell calling customers they have what they are looking for and to come on down. Then when you get there they try to sell you something else. This makes me very mad (that’s at least a 45-minute drive from my house).
They then told him they will pay up to $1000 to get a transmission from somewhere else if that is what we desire. I chose a T-56 that costs $2600. I would pay the $1600 difference.
They have been giving us the run around since the week of the contest when he called to get the Muncie (around 4-months ago).
We have made at least 30 calls to the Mesa location, 8 emails to the Mesa location, 4 calls to the corporate office and 2 emails to the corporate office. We have not gotten anywhere at all. They are absolutely terrible about responding or dealing with this problem. They are making no effort what so ever to follow through with their own contest. This just goes to show you what kind of business this is.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT DEALING WITH THIS LOCATION OR ANY OTHER COTTMAN TRANSIMSSION AS THE CORPORATE OFFICE HAS DONE NOTHING TO HELP.

I would be pretty worried about any transmission I have them install, inspect, or service.
They are not professional at all.

We are filing a report with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) as our next step in trying to get what was won. The next step may be legal action in small claims court. I felt it was important to share me dealings with this shady company and hopefully save you people some headache and problems.

I would be glad to answer any PM's or emails about this if interested. Thank you for reading

[Alexis]

Call them and record a telephone conversation and ask them to look to double check, so if they try to say they didn't tell you that then you can play the tape in court. make sure you get names and act real happy. After they say they have it you might try saying "good cause I'm the winner of the free transmission"

[PHOENIX]

Well at this point we will not except a transmission from their shop or supplier. What kind of problems might I have if I did?
I cant imagine dealing with them if there happened to be a problem with the transmission they gave me. We want them to pay the $1000 or full cost of a transmission from someone else. The contest said nothing about having to be from them. They are lucky we arent trying to get a sports car transmission from out of the country. One free transmission is one free transmission. No type stated, no exclusions, except for no comercial vehicles.

[pickup6772]

HAVEN'T I SEEN THESE GUYS ON E-BAY?? I'M SURE I'VE SEEN A FEW AUCTIONS FOR TRANSMISSIONS WITH THEIR NAME ON IT.

[CEDJUNIOR]

I remember you posting about the contest you mention. Too bad they are screwing you over. If there are any of them around here, I'll be sure to never give them my business.

[68 Suburban]

I would contact the company that was running the golf tourney. They obviously have some business dealing with this trans shop.

[PHOENIX]

68:
That was part of the plan. I am sure they wouldnt want them pulling that on more people.

[gonebad2]

Have a Lawyer write them a letter. You will probably get some action. My Mom is a Paralegal. I have had her law office do it for me in the past. It's amazing how fast some companies respond. Or, threaten them with calling the local paper or television station. Seems like the media loves talking about it when a consumer gets the shaft. Especially if it's about an auto repair shop fleecing the public. Don't let up on them, eventually they will get tired of hearing from you.....Good luck, I hope you get the tranny you want.

[PHOENIX]

We have filed a report with the www.bbb.org.
My brother-in-law and my father bother have some lawyer friends who we may ask to write a letter to see if it gets us anywhere.

['70_402]

i have bad luck with them also

[Bowtie67]

Unfortunately the BBB will do nothing but write a letter, Anyone can join the BBB, if you were to call the BBB and ask about a reference to a particular company they will not tell you that the company has bad businsess pratices, they might however recomend you not purchase from them. The BBB is nothing more than political bull. They will not publish anything about bad company's, due to the fact they could get sued for slander. As one had stated earlier contact the Golf Coarse, Have a lawyer write a letter, take them to court, After all you have a signed document from the owner. Judges and the media due not like companies that falsely award prizes who don't hold up to there end of the bargain. I would also like to point out that a lot of people have been burned buy garages even judges and lawyers and this works extremely well in your case. Most autorelated garage repair issues in court are in the platiffs favor.. JMO

[C&C Chevy]

A Cottman trans shop was just put in here in Midwest City, Ok. I'll be sure to pass on this info to my "car and truck" buddies. Thanks.

[PHOENIX]

I would like to thank everyone who has read this and passed this info along.
If I won the contest please believe I would have been in court oct-nov. But because my brother in law won the contect I dont have that option he does. I think he is getting tired of me bugging him about it. Hopefully they reply to the BBB letter, if not Ill have to talk with my brother in law to see what else he is willing to do.
I want my T56!!!!!

[Fred T]

I'd go ahead and call the local tv stations. Most of them love a story like this, pitting Joe six pack against an evil, money grabbing tranny shop.

[Prerunner1982]

sorry for the misfortune, my current trans which is due for another rebuild was rebuilt by cottmans here in edmond, ohhh about 3-4 yrs ago. Has done just fine. i may stay away from them this time, if you hadnt already contacted the corp. i would say that it was just that store, but not getting any help from the corp, certainly seems like a bad business all around.

[swervin ervin]

Jon,

if you current trans has done just fine, why after only 3-4 years is it due for another rebuild?? 3 or 4 years is not long at all.

On the same subject, have you all seen the latest Cottman commercials? Jeff Burton is in them. Pretty dorky if you ask me.

[Prerunner1982]

ok i worded that wrong. i feel its time for a rebuilt, with a shift kit and such. it runs just fine and i dont feel that it will quit anytime soon.

[PHOENIX]

BBB contact the Cottman location and they are changing their story. They said they are still willing to give the $1000 credit and now its in writing through the BBB. We replied with all info required to make a $1000 payment on the T56 I want. Now we just have to see if they are going to do it. We need to put a call in today or tomorrow with the manager who replied to the BBB and see what he is doing. I sure hope this works out, I really want that T56!

Corporate has been contacted 3 times, they pretty much didnt give a sh*t.

If they dont come through on this, then we will have a lawyer write a letter for us.

[3100 special]

Stay on em'!!

[chickenwing]

What's the latest news?

[PHOENIX]

Sorry I forgot all about this as it was so long ago. Well it turns out the brother in law just wasn't interested in pursuing it any further and I dropped it.

[bdydrp97s10]

why do you say avoid lopers??? i just bought a shifter from them and they seem fine to me.. they answered all the questions i had.. i thought they were OK..

just wondering ehats wrong with them

[PHOENIX]

Originally Posted by bdydrp97s10

why do you say avoid lopers??? i just bought a shifter from them and they seem fine to me.. they answered all the questions i had.. i thought they were OK..

just wondering ehats wrong with them

Here you go:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=130790
I used to purchase from them locally. Their prices were not that great, but not bad. Well after the service they gave me I was so mad. I will never go there again. Also the threat of "I know where you live" is enough for anyone not to do business with them, IMO.