-- Promised turnaround: 2 weeks. Actual turnaround: 13 weeks. Overall rating: 1 star for excessive…read moredelays, poor communication, and workmanship that left me concerned.
Owner Paul Simmons Jr. quoted me two weeks to repair my truck. AAMCO Transmissions in Watertown kept it for THIRTEEN weeks--more than six times the original estimate.
This business was great when Paul Sr. ran it. Unfortunately, in my experience, Paul Jr. is running it straight into the ground.
The excuses never stopped: "my guys broke another part," emergency room visits, and whatever else was needed to explain why my truck remained stuck there for nearly a quarter of a year. Emergencies happen, but they don't excuse failing to communicate or manage a customer's vehicle responsibly. My truck sat untouched and unmoved for so long that the tires started developing flat spots. I brought it in for repairs, not indefinite storage.
After a few weeks, Paul stopped answering when I called from my number. Yet when friends called from numbers he didn't recognize, he answered immediately. That says everything about how seriously he takes customer communication. I shouldn't have needed to borrow someone else's phone just to get an update about my own truck.
This cost us far more than transportation. Without the truck, we couldn't use our boat, and my family and dog lost an entire summer of outings together. A dog may only get around a dozen summers with its family, and every one of them matters. In my eyes, Paul took one of those summers from us through poor planning, poor communication, and an inability to deliver on a basic two-week promise. We can't get that time back.
When I finally got my truck back, I also found damage that was not there when I dropped it off: a dent in the truck bed and a crack in the driver-side headlight lens, with condensation inside. I cannot say exactly when or how the damage occurred, but it wasn't like that when I dropped it off.
After all that waiting, I found silicone squeezing out around the transmission pan gasket. Seeing it on the outside leaves me seriously concerned about how much may have been forced inside. After thirteen weeks, I expected professional workmanship--not something that looked rushed, sloppy, or questionable.
Nothing about this experience suggested top-tier workmanship or competent management. It's no wonder this shop doesn't appear to have top-tier mechanics. Who would want to work for an owner who seems to have more excuses than solutions? The entire operation felt disorganized, dismissive, and completely indifferent to the time and inconvenience imposed on the customer.
A two-week promise became a thirteen-week ordeal: an idle truck, flat-spotting tires, unanswered calls, questionable workmanship, newly noticed damage, and a stolen summer for my family. Excuses were abundant. Accountability was nonexistent. Results were nowhere near what was promised.
If you value your time, your vehicle, your family plans, or being treated with basic respect, take your business elsewhere. I wouldn't trust this shop with a lawn mower, let alone a transmission.
There is no need for Paul to respond to this review. Everything I've described is based on my experience, and another response will likely be nothing more than another excuse or an empty apology.
