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AVOID ManTrans in Florida

8K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Mike in Kentucky 
#1 ·
Good Day All:

As is often quoted, “Enter at your own risk”. Do NOT send your transmission to ManTrans (www.ManTrans.net or www.ManTrans.com) in Tallahassee, Florida.

After speaking with Cindy Allen of ManTrans, I sent them a 65K mile ZF 5-speed transmission for a rebuild just to make sure it was new before installing. My American Express card was billed immediately. The transmission was delivered to their facility May 28, 2019 for what was supposed to be a 2-3 week rebuild. As you can guess, it’s now mid-October 2019 and no transmission.

The ongoing saga:
• We need one bearing to finish the rebuild (July 2, 2019)
• The transmission is completed and needs to be run on the dyno (August 8, 2019)
• I’m not sure what’s going on with it. I’ll call you back (July – October 2019)
• Transmission is finished and ready to go on the dyno today (September 9, 2019)
• Owner Darrell Moore (darrell@mantrans.com) tells me they need a bearing and a synchro (September 23, 2019)
• Owner hung up on me after I asked them to ship the transmission back to me. Long, excuse filled e-mail from owner in response to my e-mail. Taking synchro from core they have in house (September 26, 2019)
• October 1, 2019 e-mail inquiry to the owner with response: “Builder out today, I’m getting with him now to confirm”. Of course, no response three days later.
• October 7, 2019 owner says transmission shipping 10/8 or 10/9/19 after dyno run. They will send me the video of the dyno.
• October 9, 2019 “Builder out with death in family. If it doesn’t ship today. I guarantee it will tomorrow”
• October 15, 2019 phoned and left a message as well as e-mail. No bill of lading so obviously transmission isn’t done and hasn’t shipped.

I’ve contacted American Express to dispute the charge, but since it’s past 60 days, they’ve no guarantee. I’m writing off the ZF transmission costs as part of my ongoing adult education.

Call this my mistake for at least not checking the Better Business Bureau. I don’t usually put much stock in the BBB, but I’ve never seen a “F” rating.

https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/tallahassee/profile/transmission/man-trans-llc-0403-160444139

Many of us have had similar issues with other vendors. This is my experience with ManTrans. You may want to avoid them.

God knows in what condition the ZF will be returned, if it comes back at all.

Feff
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Call this my mistake for at least not checking the Better Business Bureau. I don’t usually put much stock in the BBB, but I’ve never seen a “F” rating.
I've seen the "F" rating many times, but if it isn't accompanied by a BBB Alert (example: https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/palm-harbor/profile/boat-dealers/gulf-coast-boat-sales-0653-90052797) then the "F" doesn't really mean what consumers think it means.

The BBB is essentially a shakedown for small businesses. If a business does not participate in the BBB (aka ... they don't PAY the BBB for membership/accreditation) it only takes a small handful of minor complaints to get an "F" rating.

A small business could have 1,000 clean transactions a year, but if only a few go sour and the BBB gets the complaints, the resulting BBB rating will make it look much worse than it really is. In fact, that's how the shakedown works. A bad BBB report makes a business "look bad," so many small businesses pony up the dough for the accreditation - basically to clean-up their online reputation.

The whole process is a sham though. When there is a dispute, the participating business responds to the consumer complaint and the customer accepts or rejects the resolution (I'm not sure anyone actually reads the written narratives). A few days later, the BBB classifies and closes the case. If the business is a BBB member, then the case is marked as either "resolved" or "business made a reasonable effort to resolve but consumer didn't accept resolution." Either way, the content of the dispute has little or no impact on the A-F rating of the business, as long as the business responds and plays along with the BBB protocol.

Of course, most consumers don't realize the BBB is not affiliated with any governmental agency. They have absolutely no authority to do anything, so their "ratings" are no more important or official than a Google review. Nevertheless, if a business appears to be outright fraudulent, the BBB will sometimes take the next step and offer a consumer alert. In my experience, a BBB consumer alert should be taken seriously ... but an "F" rating probably doesn't mean much.

It is unlikely you'll be able to shame ManTrans into a quick resolution. I noticed you have copy-n-pasted this post to a bunch of automotive forums. That's a noble effort, but your case is simple delay, that's all. You paid them; they haven't delivered the product (yet). Is that fraud? Maybe they're just slow. Hard to say. If you really want to force the return of your money, you'll probably have to go to Florida (go see them in person, file a small claims lawsuit, speak with Leon County regulators, etc.).

Best of luck!
 
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