Towards the end of January I had my transmission rebuilt at Cottman Transmission on Dale Mabry in Tampa at a cost of about $1,500.00. About a month later, my transmission lost a gear and had to be rebuilt again. Cottman said the failure was due to an adjustment they had missed on the hydraulic pressure required by the upgrades.
I'm in the USMC and was stationed at U.S. Central Command at the time. On 1 July I was transferred to Camp Smith, Hawaii. My wife and I drove across country and shipped the car from Long Beach. On 10 November, my transmission failed again. Since there is no Cottman Transmission in Hawaii, I had my transmission diagnosed by an ASE certified technician in Pearl City who said it was "fried".
I called Steve (Manager) in Tampa and explained that I was leaving on Marine Corps business 13 November and had to get my car fixed in case my wife needed it while I was gone. He said to get it fixed if I needed to but that they would need to know what parts were replaced. He also said the owner (George) was gone for the day and that I would have to talk to him to receive any kind of reimbursement since it was not a Cottman Dealer. The technician in Hawaii also called Steve to explain what was wrong and to make sure they had put all the upgrades in when it was rebuilt.
The morning of 12 November, I spoke to George (owner) who said he would have to discuss it with Steve (manager). The technician again called Tampa after he had the transmission apart to tell them what he had found. I spoke to Steve again later in the day and he he said I would still have to talk to George but that he was gone for the day. The repairs were completed that afternoon
at a cost of almost $1,600.00.
On 15 November I received an email from Cottman Customer Service informing me that the Warranty was void because I had work performed on it without their authorization. I contend that it was authorized. What was not authorized was reimbursement.
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