AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care

Up until now, I’ve used Unilocal just to read but never write reviews. But my recent experience with a business has changed that. On the way to a college visit to Spokane, my son’s car ran into trouble. It was a Sunday evening and everything was closed. I spent the evening frantically searching on-​line for a repair shop (including a dealership) that could take a look at his car. I narrowed it down to the AAMCO on Mt. Vernon Street (based on customer reviews) and a dealership. We drove to both locations that night to familiarize ourselves with the roads (and distance to the college we were visiting) as we were from out of town. The plan was to call both businesses in the morning to see who can actually squeeze us in, get the car there, and figure out a way to get to the 9:30AM college tour. So Monday morning, I set the alarm bright and early to call the dealership whose website claims their service station opens at 6:00AM. After nearly two hours of calling every 15 minutes just to get no answer, I gave up on the dealership. At this point, my stress level is rising as I realized that if we couldn’t get the car fixed that day, the rest of our trip (including multiple college appointments and non-​refundable hotels) will all need to be cancelled. Dejected, I placed a call to AAMCO 20 minutes BEFORE their stated business hours, totally expecting to leave my desperate plea via answering machine. Well imagine my surprise when a real person picked up the phone! That was just the beginning of my happy tale. Matt (Customer Service Mgr) listened to my dilemma and without hesitation assured me that he would do everything he can to schedule us in. I knew from our drive-​by the night before that many cars were ahead of us. Anyhow, we take the car in, and Nathan (Mechanic/​Technician) checks us in quickly with a smile, then (are you ready for this…), Matt tells me that they will give us a ride to the college so we wouldn’t miss the tour!!! Who DOES that!!! AAMCO on Mt. Vernon Street, that’s who! We get into Bart’s car (the big boss/​owner), who happens to be a retired professional engineer in the Oil/​Chemical Industry. During the ride, Bart shared his experiences as an engineer and had some great advice for my son who hopes to study Mechanical Engineering. He also was very familiar with the college we were visiting because members of his own family attended, and gave it a favorable review (which was helpful to us). He delivered us to the school with fifteen minutes to spare — enough time for my blood pressure to start coming down. They worked on my son’s car and had it ready by the close of business, allowing us to head to our new destination without a change to our schedule. Although they offered to come pick us up, we chose to ride the bus back to the shop because we felt like they did enough for us already. Then when it came time to pay, they did another favor — they honored a coupon! I cannot say enough about the folks at the Mt. Vernon Street AAMCO. Their high integrity, service and care towards an out-​of-​towner that they may never see again speaks for itself! Thank you, Bart, Matt and Nathan for turning my VERY stressful situation into a mere inconvenience. You’ve restored my faith in humanity and the car repair business! Now if I can only talk you into moving your business to where I live…