Protester says local transmission shop doesn’t honor warranty
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What if you felt you were being ripped off? Would you complain? Would you call the company? Would you demand the wrong be righted? What if the company told you that you didn’t have a leg to stand on? Would you make a sign and begin peacefully demonstrating on the public sidewalk in front of the company?
I dare say not many people would take their issue to the degree that Steven Qualls has.
Since Mid November, the 27 year old, his girlfriend, Amber and a bevy of friends, have walked the sidewalk in front of the AAMCO Transmission shop on Nolensville road in South Nashville.
The protesters are carrying heavy signs that read: AAMCO WON’T BACK THEIR WARRANTY
The story starts when Qualls had transmission work done on his truck. The shop offers a one year, 12,000 mile warranty.
About 6 months into the warranty, Qualls says his truck freezes up.
Qualls says he brings the vehicle back to Bernie Gray who owns the shop and did the work.
Gray pops the hood and finds a new carburetor in the truck. Gray says the installation by another mechanic was done improperly, and led to the new transmission problem.
Gray says the improper mechanical work violates the terms of Mr. Qualls’ Warranty.
Gray tells Messed Up he values his customers and he stands behind his work. Gray seems to be a man of his word and the AAMCO award posted prominently in his lobby for Superlative Customer Relations in 2008 would seem to back that up.
Gray says he can’t give away free mechanical work. The business owner says if he in any way caused the problem, he would fix it for free. But Gray tells me, that is not the case. Gray says he has had limited interactions with Mr. Qualls since the protest began, but Gray does tell Messed Up, he would do the 2nd transmission job for ½ price.
When Messed Up informs Mr. Qualls of this, Mr. Qualls says that a warranty is a warranty.
Qualls argues that the mechanic he hired, replaced the old carburetor with exactly the same brand. Qualls admits he has very limited mechanical knowledge, but Qualls tells Messed up the other mechanics he talks to tell him there was nothing irregular or wrong with the carburetor job.
Bernie Gray says the carburetor cable is the problem, and was incorrectly installed. Gray says it is the direct cause of the transmission freezing up.
So that is where this story stands.
Mr. Gray wonders how long the protest outside his shop will last. How many more days will Mr. Qualls and his friends be willing to walk the sidewalk outside the AAMCO shop?
I ask Mr. Qualls how long he plans this protest. Qualls tells me that he and Amber will be moving to Texas to attend college. He says he quit his job and has a lot of vacation days saved up. I ask why not go to Vegas or Tunica instead of burning vacation days pacing up and down Nolensville Road?
Qualls says it is a matter of principle.
It’s a matter of contractual fairness for Bernie Gray.
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Uh, the biggest messed up portion is your pronunciation of the business. It is AAMCO (AM’-koh) not am-UH’-koh. If you are unfamiliar with phonetics it would be “AM” as in “Am I saying this correctly” - “Uh” as in “Uh, is this a story?” and “Koh” that rhymes with “No”… which answers the question- but why should this one be any different from most of the pieces you manage to get on the air.
Amoco is a brand of gasoline owned by BP. They may not like you associating their name with a negative non-story.
We’ve known Bernie for years and if anyone knows cars it would be him. He is trustworthy and honest and if the guy has any sense he will take the offer to get it fixed for 1/2 price.
Mr. Qualls is blaming the wrong person here and is letting the mechanic who installed the carb off the hook for his mistake. The part in question is a TV (throttle valve) cable and any competent mechanic, the key phase here, knows how to properly adjust these cables when installing or reinstalling a carb. Sounds like a DYI carb install on the part of Qualls.
Mr. Gray is being more than generous in his offer of repairs for another persons error.
Mr.Qualls should go after the mechanic who did not install the tv cable properly on the carb.. that ruined the trans.. Bernie is right here!!! and is taking punishment for nothing he has done… so why dont we bring the “other mechanic” on the show as well?????????
Unhooking the TV cable on a transmission will cause the clutches to burn out very quickly because of low line pressure. The TV cable regulates line pressure based on throttle position. The more throttleyou give it the more line pressure it need and can not have it if it is unhooked…
1st , take the deal from Mr.Gray ! Then take a vaction ,or just Find somebody who knows what they are doing !
I agree that the mechanic that put the carburetor in should be responsible, and 1/2 price is generous.
Sorry to say it but dude you need to take trans shop deal on a half price job . The trans shop is not responsible for your tranny taking a dump you need to go after the guy that put the new carb on he did’t know how to hook up the tv CABLE