Complaints

This profile includes complaints for German Transaxle of America's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  German Transaxle of America

  2185 NE 2nd St Ste C Bend, OR 97701-3541

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  German Transaxle of America

  PO Box 5845 Bend, OR 97708-5845

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a rebuilt transmission assembly from this firm for my VW van. The final price was contingent upon returning the old transmission assembly to them for a refund of $1500. The old transmission assembly was received by them on or about 1 March 2023. On March 8th, they told me it was the wrong one. On March 10th I received notice that they received another transmission assembly and it was the correct one. When I asked for my $1500 deposit to be credited to my CC, they said they only process these on Fridays and it was too late to process that day. On the 17th I asked for my deposit and they said the internet was down and they couldn't process anything, and I would have to wait Friday week. On 20 March I was told this old transmission had no return value and I would not get my $1500 back. Their description of the condition of the returned transmission may fool some people, but as a retired VW mechanic and, having owned a VW specialty repair facility for 32 years, I knew better. I suspect that one of two things has occurred - either their technicians looked at the wrong one or they are intentionally denying my return value for further profit. There at 3 basic parts to this assembly, the automatic transmission part, the final drive (differential) and the torque converter. Their description of what was wrong with the final drive is the problem. There is no way that I could have driven this vehicle to the garage that removed the old and in installed the rebuilt unit with those parts deemed by them to be in the condition they described. Yes, the original transmission was slipping but there was nothing wrong with the final drive part - as it had been rebuilt less then ****** miles ago by a local shop.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/27/2023

  ***************************** did purchase a rebuilt VW Vanagon 3 speed automatic transaxle from us back in January 2023.  He did pay a $1,500.00 core deposit.  This core deposit is refundable depending on the condition of his core once it is received and inspected back here at the shop.  We did receive 2 cores here at our location.  The 1st core received was not his core, it was a ***** core.  This ***** core was picked up from the same location that did his removal & reinstallation of his transaxle (Diversified Auto).  We called ******************** to let him know that the core received was not his, it was for a *****.  Then a couple days later we received a 2nd core, from the same shop again, Diversified Auto.  This time it was the 3 speed VW Vanagon automatic transaxle.  The 2nd core which was the correct core from Diversified Auto was for ********************, there is no way we could have miss marked this core.  These units are immediately tagged as soon as they are received.  We did not look at the wrong one and we definitely are not intentionally denying his refund.  We would prefer good parts in these transaxles to keep these vehicles on the road. If we do not have good parts, we can not rebuild.
  Mr. ********* core has the following hard part damages in the automatic section, pump & gears $250.00, forward drum $150.00, sprag $100.00, sunshell $50.00, planet $100.00, planet ring gear $50.00.  In the differential he had a cracked final case at the mounting hole $300.00 and a wore out ring & pinion that is not reusable $600.00.  The values of these hard part damages exceed the deposit he paid. Therefore, there is no core refund.   We are happy to send pictures or the customers original parts back to him or anyone else who needs to look them over, this was mentioned in an email to ******************** on 3/22/23.  If ******************** would like the parts back, he will be responsible for shipping charges.  
  Yes, we do issue refunds once a week, every Friday. Yes, our internet, phones and credit card machine were down on the 17th. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 19854433
  
  I am rejecting this response because: As a VW mechanic for over 32 years, I know that this vehicle could not have been driven to Diversified for the swap.  I also described this to another long time VW mechanic and he agrees.  Also. they can't tell me this transmission could have this damage and not make noise.  My complaint stands.  I suggest that the BBB ask an expert of there own.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************