Bass Transmission, Inc.

Review: We took our 2012 Nissan Armada in for a transmission fluid leak in the front. It was towed to Bass Transmissions on 11/10/14. The morning I visited the shop to explain the problem and was assured they would look at it as soon as possible. That afternoon I received a call from Pat Bass that I would need to come down to look at the vehicle underside. So on 11/11 I went down in the morning first thing. They had the vehicle on a lift and showed the underside covered in transmission fluid. They had not done any mechanical work at that time and hadn't even removed the underside engine pan to see what was leaking. Pat explained that since the fluid that was leaking was "burned" the transmission may need to be replaced. I asked for an estimate at that time and she stated she could not provide one until they determined the problem with the leak. The next day I got a call that the vehicle had been repaired by replacing a small 18" hose that had broken and filling the transmission with fluid. Total bill was $397.42. When I questioned the amount Pat quickly assured me that I was very lucky the transmission had even survived. I could see there was no point in arguing with her at that point.About a week after we picked the truck up, small spots of fluid began to appear in the front again. Since it was the weekend I pulled the cover and found that the hose they had replaced had slipped because the clamp had not been tightened properly. More than a quart of fluid had been lost.-My complaint is that they did not provide a written estimate of repairs or diagnostic charge before charging for repairs as required by law.-Poor workmanship resulted in the hosing failing again (I have a video).-They did not use an OEM part or Nissan transmission fluid which nearly voided my warranty.They never advised me to check to see if the repairs were covered by a factory warranty which in fact they were. Nissan had to replace the transmission this past week, the hose they installed and add the proper fluid.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund of the repair bill. I was never offered an estimate or told of a diagnostic fee. The invoice doesn't even have a signed authorization by me. The repair was unsatisfactory and caused further leaking within a week. The hose and transmission fluid used to repair the problem was non-OEM and could have caused my warrany to be voided. I was charged for cleaning the vehicle undercarriage when it clearly could have been clean just as easily by running through a carwash.

Business

Response:

Customers car was towed in 11/10/14. The customer did not have an appointment.Upon our technician inspecting the transmission fluid leak he found that theunderneath of the vehicle was soaked in transmission fluid and was alsocovering the back bumper and rear window. In order for us to be specific as towhere the leak was we had to clean underneath and remove panel. The customerwas called so we could show him the amount of fluid underneath the vehicle andalso the fluid that had been sprayed onto the back of the vehicle. The purpose ofasking the customer to look at the vehicle was because we did not want anyconfusion as to why we had to spend more time cleaning the vehicle so the leakcould he found. We also wanted him to see the amount of fluid that was lostbefore we began any work on the vehicle. At that time I explained it was anexcessive transmission fluid leak and we did not know if there was any long termdamage to the transmission at this time. The customer stated the vehicle did notneed a rebuild, "it would be fine". We did not give any estimate at this timebecause we had not cleaned it to be able to look for the leak. After cleaning andremoving the panel we located the leak coming from the transmission cooler lineat one of the bends. Once the leak was located we called the customer and toldhim the cooler line was split and needed to be replaced. He was told the OEMlines were not in stock at the time but we could make the lines. This is somethingwe do quit often. Customer did not want to wait on the OEM lines. He was toldat that time the estimate for the repair would be around $350.00. He was thennotified on 11/12/14 @ 9:10AM that his vehicle was ready to be picked up. Hepicked it up on 11/12/14. The next contact we had with the customer was on12/09/14 when he called to complain about the cost of repairs and said he hadseen a leak on 11/29/14 but had fixed it himself. He also stated even though hesaw a leak, he allowed his wife to drive out of town and when she came back theleak was worse. He requested we refund one half of his money. We asked thathe bring the vehicle in for us to check and his reply was he would call back for anappointment because ¡t wasn't convenient for him. He set an appointment up for12/19/14 but did not show. We finally received a call @ 4:45PM that same daystating he couldn't keep the appointment but asked an employee to relay amessage to me that he would call back the beginning of the following week as hestill needed to discuss "our" issues. On 12/26/14 @6:49PM the customer left amessage on the machine that he not forgotten about our issues and he had notcome in because his transmission is being replaced at [redacted]. Thenext call received from the customer was on 12/30/14 @1:44PM. I was unable todiscuss anything as I was busy with other customers so I asked that he call backin 15 minutes. He called back @ 2:17PM and stated that his transmission startedto fail and he was having it replaced. He requested a full refund. I told him I hadthought long and hard and I was not going to refund his money. He stated hewould take me to small claims court. I thanked him for calling and said goodbye.I did not argue with the customer.My reasons for not refunding the customer's money are:We used a lot more cleaner than we charged him for. As far as driving it thru acar wash, it will not clean the fluid off like the cleaner we use. It is almostimpossible to find a leak coming from a transmission fluid soaked vehicle and if itwas possible it certainly would have taken longer to find the leak so the laboramount he was charged would not change. The customer was anxious to get thevehicle back. We also realized the backup sensors on the bumper were soakedwith transmission fluid and did not work. After the technician cleaned the fluidfrom the back we let the customer know the fluid must have damaged thosesensors but the customer stated they hadn't worked for a long time. As far as theestimate he was called with an estimated amount of $350.00 (give or take) beforewe did the repair. He never asked for a written estimate. As far as any diagnosticcharge, he was never charged for a diagnostic. Our diagnostic charge is postedin 3 places in our office. One on the door he came in and 2 on the counter that hestood in front of and walked by. We did not use the OEM part because it was notin stock and he wanted the vehicle back as soon as possible so he authorized usto make the lines per a phone conversation. As far as using the Nissantransmission fluid, Nissan fluid was used. It is not our responsibility to knowwhat the factory warranty is on a customer's vehicle. That is the responsibility ofthe owner of the vehicle. As far as Nissan replacing the transmission, we have noknowledge of that repair as this customer never came back for us to look at thevehicle even though we scheduled time for him in which we lost income due tohim not showing up when we could have scheduled other customers. Customerpicked this vehicle up on 11/12/14 and stated in his complaint it was leakingwithin a week however the first call we received after he picked it up was on12/09/14 when he stated that it was leaking on 11/29/14 and that he fixed ithimself. We cannot verify the customers complaints as to any leak after our repairsince the customer never brought the vehicle back for us to check. We giveestimates over the phone daily for repairs. In this case it was not unusual that weget authorization to repair over the phone as it is an inconvenience to ourcustomers to have them come back in person for a written estimate. As far as thediagnostic fee we cannot refund something that was not charged. I don't feelthere was anything we could have done differently to please this customer. Westrive to provide our customers with the best service possible and wish we couldhave had the chance to verify his complaints.Patricia A. BassVice PresidenUOwner

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The businesses accounts of whether I authorized non-OEM parts and a price estimate are completely inaccurate. I did ask for estimate the day I went to the shop and she said couldn't give me an estimate until they got it all apart, but no estimate followed, verbally or in writing. They didn't even address the fact that the repair they attempted was inferior and resulted in more fluid loss and potential damage to the transmission. I have the video of the non-OEM hose they used leaking badly within just a week after the repair. There was no counter-offer made and it is clear to me that Pat wants me to take this to small claims court.Regards,[redacted]

First time visiting shop. It was the only place I could find that would honor my extended warranty. The problem is the lady at desk that I am assuming is the manager was not at all helpful and rude. I would rather pay out of pocket to a customer service oriented place than I would to take my vehicle back there.