Holt Transmission Service
Complaint 57401 Details

I brought my car to Holt Transmission Service (by referral) to look at why my car would jerk, then stay in whatever gear it was in at the time of said jerk. Knowing very little about transmissions and the problems they had, I trusted the specialists to know and fix whatever the problem was. I was hoping that it would be a very simple problem, and could be fixed easily and rather inexpensively. Turns out, this problem with my transmission cost me a lot of money, time, energy, and stress due to fraud by both the shop manager and its owner. While this may be in fact a very reputable and trust-worthy repair shop to others who have gone there and will go there for transmission repairs in the future, I am certain that I was going to be victim for auto repair fraud and will never do business at Holt Transmission Service again, much less refer them to anyone I know.

I dropped my vehicle off for them to do a complete diagnostic on why my car would jerk and not switch gears. I signed a blank repair order (this practice is more common than you think) for, what I thought, was authorizing them to do the diagnostic work on my vehicle. This repair order included the date and the necessary information about my vehicle, but it did not include a cost estimate, because at that point, we (the manager and I) didn’t know what the problem was. After finding the final diagnosis was a faulty solenoid, an internal problem in the valve body, I was told that I needed to rebuild my transmission. The shop manager, over the phone, told me that the repair would require a master kit, torque converter, filter set, and solenoid and that, with parts and labor, the total would be $3328.27. I was shocked, as you can imagine, that the repair would require so much and that it would be so expensive. Not fully knowing what I could do at this point, and being stuck between a rock and a hard place with my tranny being taken apart, I authorized them to repair my transmission. I immediately started thinking about it.

The next day, I went into the shop to ask for an itemized list of everything to be included for my repair. I expected to get a copy of the estimate (which, by law, I am entitled to). Instead, I received a written list, and not on my repair order, but on a piece of scratch paper with the company letterhead. It said: master kit: $1192, 18 hrs/$80: $1440, filter set: $89.27, torque converter: $480, solenoid: $123. I asked the manager to explain to me what these parts were and why my vehicle needed these parts. I told him I didn’t know what this list of parts meant (mistake number 1: never claim ignorance). He told me that I wouldn’t understand the explaination if I didn’t understand what he wrote down as parts required to complete my repair. I felt completely ignorant, and frankly very stupid, that I authorized a very expensive repair to my vehicle, without fully understanding everything beforehand. I left the shop that day with a ton a questions and a sense that I was being ripped off. The fact that the manager wouldn’t answer my questions triggered my quest for research.

I became obsessed with finding out why my transmission repair would cost so much. I first started online, trying to find out what all these parts did and what was included with the cost. The first thing that alarmed me was the cost. To make a long story shorter, I found that a master/overhaul kit would run me $695 (from the dealer!!), a filter set cost anywhere from $19 to $45 (again, from the dealer), torque converters, if they are exchanged would cost me around $250 (at the most expensive price point) and that solenoid prices were a mystery (I didn’t know which one they replaced, so I didn’t know what to look for). After the online search, I hit the stores. I got quotes.

They marked up the master kit 104%, the filter set 206%, and the exchanged torque converter 80%. I needed some type of justification.

The manager called to tell me that my car was ready. I marked his words, knowing I had to pay him for the parts and labor, but I wasn’t going to leave the shop again without having my questions answered and I wasn’t going to pay until I was satisfied with the answers. I let my car sit for a day while I figured it out. And I’m glad I did.

Armed with the cash to pay and questions in hand, I walked into the shop to pick up my car. I sat down in the office and asked the shop manager for my old parts. He told me that he didn’t know if he still had them. I asked him to go check. He left the office, just to come back and tell me that my parts were in the dumpster and, unless we wanted to go dumpster-diving, I wasn’t going to get my parts back. I told him I would wait. He left again. He came back this time to tell me that the dumpster had been emptied and my parts were gone (red flag #1).

I asked him which solenoid was replaced, because my transmission has nine, and prices varied. He didn’t know.

I then asked the manager about the cost of my parts. I brought up all the price points from the research I had done. I asked him how much he marked up parts. First, he said he didn’t know, and then he told me that it depended on the likelihood of the part failing. I asked how much he normally marked up a master kit, because what I was charged was excessive. I got the dear-in-the-headlights look. I tried to reason with him. I told him that I didn’t feel comfortable paying close to $3500 for parts and labor I couldn’t see, as I’m sure he would understand. He told me that I should have requested to see the parts before I authorized the repair (he was right about this!!) and that it was too late to do anything about it short of paying. I asked to see an invoice with all my repair information and parts. This version of the repair order (the same one I signed when I dropped my car off), included “install rebuilt transmission-1, exchange torque converter-all parts and labor-$3328.27” and the total after taxes. That was all it said (red flag #2). I asked for an itemized receipt. He told me he would provide me with one (though he never did).

Because this shop provides a two-year, 24,000 mile warranty, I asked for it in writing. He stamped the repair order (yes, the one I signed when I dropped my car off) with a “2-year or 24,000 mile warranty, this shop only” stamp. I asked for the terms and conditions of the warranty, and I got a blank stare. I was getting fed up.

I asked him where he ordered parts from. To that, he said he wouldn’t tell me. I had, at that point, reached my threshold for BS for one visit. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, or was too incompetent to answer any of my questions. I was furious.

I told him to prove to me, somehow, the parts I was about to pay for were in fact in my transmission and I would pay for the repair. He told me the only way to do that was to take the transmission apart. I agreed to that. He did not. I told him I refused to talk with him about this matter anymore, and left the office, only to have him follow me asking me if he could ask me something. I think he got the point that I wasn’t going to answer anything when I closed the door of the rental car and put it in reverse.

I left my car there. And I was fuming.

I went back to the shop the next day for two reasons. First, I wanted to see if they had my transmission torn apart. The second reason was to get a carbon copy of the repair order I signed. I needed to look at it to confirm what I was paying for. My car, to my surprise, was in the lot behind the shop and not on a lift. I went into the office and asked the manager to show me the invoice again. I looked at it (to my surprise, nothing had changed), lifted the white copy, and took the yellow copy. The manager reached for it, but I already had what I wanted. I put it in my bag, and asked to talk to the owner. He told me he would make sure I was contacted Monday (they’re closed the weekend). I said ok, then left.

I got a call from the owner, as promised, that Monday. I was at work, and I told him that I wasn’t going to discuss the matter over the phone. We made arrangements to meet and talk.

When I got to the shop, the owner seemed genuinely surprised to be talking to me. We sat down to discuss the repairs on my transmission. I explained to him that I didn’t feel comfortable paying for repairs with the questions I had still in mind. I asked him about the mark up on my parts, to which he answered: “I have a right to make a profit”. Good answer. I then asked for the authorization for my repairs (having talked to a previous employee of his shop, I already knew that he had to have a birth date or social security number to prove the authorization of the repair over the phone). He seemed even more surprised and wanted to know who I had been talking to. I told him I was meeting a lot of new friends doing all my research. He provided me with the authorization.

I asked for the estimate of the repair, which needed to include the problem with my car and the parts needed to fix that problem. More words were said, and an argument ensued. I could tell he was passionate about swindling me and I was passionate about getting what I paid for. To make a long argument short, I never got an estimate because there wasn’t one to begin with. All he gave me, and I had to fight for it, was a copy of their diagnostic report (I had to show this man how to use his own copier to get that!!) and all that said was the solenoid valve remained open. It said nothing justifying a complete overhaul of my transmission.

I caught both the owner and the manager in several lies that day. The manager tried (hard) to convince me and the owner that the repair costs were included on my repair order the day I signed it. He tried to convince us that I agreed, in writing, to have him call me before repairs were to exceed $3488.78. I found it highly unlikely that I would ask that he call me if the repairs went over the EXACT amount he ended up quoting me after he tore into my transmission, down to the penny. I asked them if that was a coincidence. I got blank stares.

The owner tried to bottom-line me. He asked me what difference it all made if my car ran. He asked me if I wanted to drive my car, and I declined.

Then the manager left the office. I told the owner that I no longer trust the work being done at this shop and that I fully intend on taking it to another transmission shop to verify what was done. I also told him that if I found that they didn’t replace the parts I paid a great deal for, we were going to have a completely different issue (legally). I got silence (it was the first time he stopped talking since I started asking questions) and a stare. By the end of the meeting, the owner agreed to tear apart my transmission again (or for the first time), so that I could verify the parts were replaced and that the work had in fact been done. He also agreed that I was overcharged for the parts that were to be replaced, but he offered no discount because I authorized the repair. So, with that, he told me to get my “female behind” out of his shop. I left thinking the sexist remark was completely uncalled-for being that I was a paying customer with a lot of questions he should easily be able to answer.

The next day, I received three calls from Holt Transmission Service. They didn’t leave a message and I was busy at work. I didn’t return their call until about 4:30PM. They told me my transmission was taken apart and ready to look at. With that, I told them to stop all work on my vehicle and that I would pay them the full asking price to take it as-is. What happened next surprised me.

The owner was almost irate that I asked such a thing. He wanted me to come by and look at the parts. I did go to the shop. The owner was helping another client (victim) and I took the opportunity to go look at my car. I did see that the tranny was out and there were some parts in a box, but not a torque converter or valve body or gasket or bolts of any kind. I saw that coming. I went back into the office and told the owner that I was going to pay him the $3488.78, including all the parts, labor and tax, for the “repairs” made to my transmission, but that I wanted my vehicle back as-is. I told him to stop all work and that I would have my car towed out of his shop. I was not surprised when he said no. He would NOT let me take my car. I called the police, but that was a civil matter so he won there. He then offered a discount: $2500 to let him finish the repair. I told him no and I repeated that I wanted him to stop all work immediately. He refused, mentioning that he was contractually obligated to finish the work on my transmission before I paid him. He told me that my car would be ready the following day and that he would call when it was ready to pick up. He also told me that he would not take a credit card, but only cash or cashier’s check. I agreed to that, and then told him again that I wanted him to stop all repairs to my vehicle. He said I was smart, but not that smart and that I would take my car when the transmission work was completed. I told him that he had no proof of this “work”, so I would pay, but I was driving it immediately to another transmission repair shop to have all the “work” verified.

He then wanted to know what needed to happen in order for me to trust him. He wanted to talk of trust NOW?! I told him we have reached the point of no return on the whole trust thing. Trust was not an option. He had not answered any of my questions, provided me with anything I was entitled to (estimate, detailed invoice), shown me my old parts, or told me the truth about anything. And now he was holding my car hostage. I tried reasoning with him, telling him that if he did what he said he was going to do, he had nothing to worry about. He told me he had nothing to worry about because he did what was authorized. He had nothing to lose, yet he was keeping my car? At this point, I knew what happened, but I didn’t know how to prove it.

The following day, the shop called 3 times. I never picked up because I was busy at work and didn’t return their call until the afternoon. The mechanic who picked up didn’t know what to tell me when I asked if my car was ready. He said he had to get the manager. I waited. The same mechanic came back on the line to tell me that the manager was out driving my car. That was strange because they called me 4 hours earlier, and if they were calling to tell me my car was ready, why were they just then driving it? Then the mechanic said that the owner was going to call me. That was strange too. Why would the owner be calling me if my car was ready to go? When I got on the phone with the owner, he told me that my transmission was to be taken apart (down to the bolts), he was going to give it back to me as-is, and that he wasn’t going to charge me for any of the work or parts. I immediately felt relief, then confusion. What was going on?!

I made arrangements for my car to be towed and have the parts taken to another transmission shop. What we uncovered made my blood boil.

In making sure all the components for my tranny were present, we found that the torque converter, solenoid, filter, and all of the master kit were accounted for. I was surprised. But when they went to put it together, the parts didn’t fit. How can that be? If it ran fine before they took it apart (the second time), how were these the wrong parts? We suspected sabotage, but there was a different reason altogether.

Humor me for a minute. Say you paid for a puzzle set to replace some broken pieces of one you already owned. What if you opened the box, and go to put the puzzle together, only to find out the pieces are a size smaller than the one you already own?

You see, when you order the master kit that is supposed to go to the transmission in my car, you would get the wrong clutches. The clutches that go in my transmission happen to come from a different car. If you were to try to put the entire transmission together with the wrong clutches, you would find that you couldn’t. Uncovering this fact took a ton of research and time, but we figured it out. I know this is true, because the new mechanics got the same parts when they ordered what was listed as my master kit. The parts that Holt Transmission Service gave me were the parts of the master kit they ordered the Monday following the day my car was “ready”. So, the reason Holt couldn’t complete the work on my car was because they couldn’t figure out why the clutches didn’t fit. That’s why they gave me back my car with the transmission in boxes, free of charge.

At the new shop, we ordered the correct kit, just for the clutches because you can’t order those separately (more money out of my pocket). This proves two things: One, I never needed these parts to begin with if my transmission was functioning perfectly before they were “replaced”. Remember, they asked if I wanted to drive it. Now, I had to pay (total cost, including labor, totaled $2300) because Holt Transmission Service lied, and they were trying to cover up their lie with new parts that didn’t fit and weren’t needed. Two, Holt Transmission Service was going to charge me for parts they never ordered and installed before I started asking questions. I just avoided becoming a victim of automotive repair fraud, and now I had proof.

There are several lessons to this horror story:
• Always, always, always get more than one referral.
• Always, always, always ask for an estimate in writing. Make sure it includes the problem, parts to be included in the repair, labor costs, and the approximate total. The repair shop cannot charge you more than 10% over your estimated total without your approval.
• Do your research!!! Knowledge has proven time and time again to be a very powerful tool. Know as much as possible about the components of your car.
• Ask for your old parts. If you’re not buying new tires or a new bumper or something that you can look at and see is repaired, you will never know if they replaced parts. The only way to verify this is to ask for your old parts BEFORE you authorize any repairs.
• Do not authorize a repair unless you have all your questions answered and the estimate in hand. This will give you a lot of peace of mind so that you avoid the mistakes I made.

As a young female working for a highly visible company in my community, I was prey. They played on my ignorance. What they didn’t count on was that I could educate myself (with the help of a few new friends working in the trade) on the functions of my transmission. They didn’t expect that I would ask questions. I got smart about the business of automotive repair, and not the easy way. I will remember this nightmare the next time I take my car to any shop for repair. Let me assure you, it won’t be Holt Transmission Service.