When you take your car to a shop for repair, the best you could hope for is that the shop you take…read moreit to treats you fairly, does a good job, and they respect you and your situation. The last thing you hope for, is that they only want to get as much money as possible from you and they have little concern for you as a customer.
I wouldn't recommend bringing your car here because my experience was bad, and I'll explain why.
I'll also recommend the transmission shop that worked out well for me.
I usually start any repair by calling a few shops to see if a shop can do the job and what they estimate the cost to be.
When I called Transmission Super Shop, I talked to the Owner Joe. And He didn't remember that I had called for a quote about my coolant system months ago, and he had given me a quote on transmission.. The previous quote I got was $5500. And during this call he was quoting upwards of $6000. It was easily a 15-20minute call, because I was driving from Downtown to Santa Monica and I was parking in Santa Monica when we concluded. Most of the discussion was him explaining to me why it was so expensive. I could tell he was upselling me from the previous time we spoke. And it concluded with me saying, "Well I simply don't have a budget for that amount"
A few minutes later, He texted me back, saying that he would do the job for $3500. I will include Screenshots.
Already, I would consider prices that are based on the amount of money the customer has, a "Yellow Flag" if not a "Red Flag". But after discussing it with him, it sounded more like he was scaling the type of work to fit my needs. He was willing to do a repair, rather than a replacement. And seeing as how they are a transmission shop that specializes in that type of work, it made sense that they would be willing and able to do that.
I said, I would think about it and get back to him.
At the time, I was considering selling the car, and My lease was up on my place, so I had to consider the added costs of moving. Tough Choice. I did some budgeting, and Messaged him a few days later and he said that the price was only good for that week.
Which, okay, that sets off some warning signals. Why would the price change in a week? Sort of seems like a tactic to pressure the customer into doing the job... And it was.
But, I thought about it and later that week I asked him if I could bring it in on the following monday because rent was due and it would work better if I waited till another pay check.
He didn't remember our conversation. He asked what it was about, and he said he deleted the conversation. I totally get it, customers come and go and you deal with a lot of people, but it wasn't the best customer service. You would hope that if someone gives you a week to decide, that when you call back later that week they would still remember the ultimatum that forced you to consider rearranging your life to meet. But as it turns out, that's not the kind of customer service and consideration that Transmission Super Shop Offers. It was inconvenient to him.
He said it was okay to bring the car in on that date.
When the date came, I actually texted to ask if I could bring the car in earlier. Once again He didnt remember.
And he said it would take 2 weeks. Which was different than what he had said earlier. So I asked why.
He no longer wanted to do the job. But you should read the text messages and get a feel for the customer service and get a sense of his thought processes and mine. Decide for yourself what you think of it.
But I'll give you my impression and my takeaway, because that's what a yelp review is. An account of my experience of a business. As a means of helping other people with their big decisions when considering that business.
My impression of Joe and the Transmission Super shop....
They want your money, they want you in and out. Don't ask questions. Don't be inconvenient. Don't waste their time. Every conversation was actually a negotiation.
RECAP:
1. I called for a quote and he didnt remember the previous quote and raised the price.
2. I didnt have the money, so he made me an offer, but said it was only good for that week.
3. I asked if I could bring it in early, he said no, & it would take 2 weeks
4. I ask why, and he says he doesn't want to do the job anymore.
But as a customer, I was always acting on the information from our previous exchange. And each time he didnt remember and changed the situation and seemed annoyed by my questions.
In his mind, he's giving me a deal and I should just bring it in no questions asked.
He wasn't understanding of my situation. For me it was a months rent trying to save the life of my car, for him it was annoying.
When your mechanic is annoyed that you have questions, its a problem.
Go to Atlas Transmission. 310-532-3717
I wrote a review
https://www.yelp.com/biz/atlas-transmissions-torrance?uid=H7SbZVauOdkGLFCymwiaWA&utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_l
