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Len Freeman, is this how you treat your customers? long.

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disco stu

Active Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2002
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2,562
I paid Len for a transmission that will stand up to solid nines. I expressed this plainly. We ordered the tranny as one of the first items. It waited for the car to me built (delays with machinist, BO's on parts, roll cage, notch, alot of work.)
When the car was finished we took it to the track. Long story short, we made two passes (First pass was 10.5. Second pass was aborted) due to an injector going bad, causing one cylinder to overheat and do some damage. Point is, it took awhile to get some pistons cut (but was till in warantee) and to fix the motor and head. Got it back together, get it on the street and it noticed that there was a 2/3 flair. A couple pulls on the street showed that it was going south fast, even at part throttle it was giving an extremely delayed shift.

SO.... I call Len, and he asks me about the fluid level, and TV adjustment. I told him it's right. In which he relied, that he knew I knew better but he had to ask. So he tells me, "yeah there is something wrong. Get it ready to ship and I'll fix it no problem. Something is wrong". He also askes when we ordered it. It had been awhile but was still in warrantee. In which he adds (I don't give a f*ck how long it's been, it should not have done that. Send it to me". I was not suprised, we've done this before, and he stood behind his work.

So I call him to tell him it's ready to go. Well, I get his receptionist. She tells me she will give him the message. This goes on daily for about a week. Then after about another week it changed to "he does not work here anymore". Really? This is his shop. And I'm pretty sure it's his daughter. And if she still works there I would presume the he does to. (If I am wrong then disregard the last statement). BUT, the kicker is, I had someone else call, and they were still taking orders.... so take that for what it's worth. :mad: And to make it even better, I am convinced I heard him in the background, but stopped talking mid sentence.

So, after a couple of weeks of her screening my calls, and taking my messages, she tells me that "we're not going to be able to help you this time". It took a little self control to tell her "really?, that's not what he told me. You have him call me ASAP." Surely he got some of my messages by this point, so it was becoming apparent that it was not going to do any good.

So I PM him. Nothing. I call back and tell her a summary of what my new builder found. Pause, and then said that she will give him the message. I tell her that if he does not call me back personally, I am going to let everyone and their dog know about this. She said "I'll let him know about your little threat". :rolleyes: Waited to hear from him and nothing. Posted the other thread http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ve...freeman-i-suggest-you-answer-my-gd-calls.html
and told him to handle this, and I'll even wait two days before I give my account of this. I gave him five. Nothing. So, here it is.

This is verbatim from the work order:

Upon disassembly, we discovered that the direct clutch pack failed (frictions worn to backing and burned). Transmission contained stock Raybestos frictions and steels in entire unit. No upgrades to any of the clutch packs. O/D carrier assembly was stock and is cracked in spline area. Forward drum was a stock modified unit, Not a billet shaft (or hardened shaft), I.D if stator shaft was bored oversize beyond usable specs, band anchor pin was stock not upgraded, no upgraded roller bearings in unit.

Well, WTF did we pay for?! A refreshen, black paint job, and a "Performance" Transmission sticker? In all fairness, we did get a nice pan and servo cover....since that is externally visable.

Let's hear it Freeman. I'm waiting to hear it.

:mad:
 
John, thanks for all the work and diligence. This has been EXTREMELY trying and the thought of Len totally taking advantage of our business to this extreme shows an EXTREME lack of integrity on his part. I can not STAND dishonest people who use deceit and lies to hide behind their shortcomings. For the above reasons, I will be SURE to dissuade ANY potential customer of his in the future so as to hopefully prevent another such occurence from happening to anyone else.....
 
I forgot to note that he said that there ws not a high pressure valve in it, and he also put in a 13 vane pump (he said alot of people use the 10's but he firmly believes in the 13). I don't know how important this stuff is, because I am not a tranny guy. If I was I would be in this mess. It's really one thing I haven't messed with. I think it might be the next thing I learn though.
 
Wow, and I planning on making a trip to Vegas, never mind that, I will just go somewhere local in Cali and cross my fingers as it will be the same if I will go to Len... :biggrin:
Thanks for the heads up...
 
Wow, and I planning on making a trip to Vegas, never mind that, I will just go somewhere local in Cali and cross my fingers as it will be the same if I will go to Len... :biggrin:
Thanks for the heads up...
Good call....stay far, far away....
 
Wow, and I planning on making a trip to Vegas, never mind that, I will just go somewhere local in Cali and cross my fingers as it will be the same if I will go to Len... :biggrin:
Thanks for the heads up...

If I lived anywhere near Cali I'd make the trip to Wilton,CA.
 
If I lived anywhere near Cali I'd make the trip to Wilton,CA.

Where to Bruce at PTS? If you want one of the best you don't need to look further....

I have two of his full out trans, one in the TFS car and going in the Twin Turbo Street car. I have seen them built and had fun on test rides:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
John (DiscoStu) is obviously a longstanding member in here who has helped ton's of other members out over the year. I have nothing to add to his reputation as it speaks for itself.

I can add that I've come to personally know Whiplash very well over the past year and he's one of the most honest, direct and sincere guys I've ever met. He's the type of car guy we'd all love to have in our clubs and doesn't deserve this type of treatment.

Good luck guys. I'll be forwarding this link like crazy.
 
For those watching this and keeping track on other sites...

Len is a friend of mine. I was not trying to take business from him. Len has given me parts before, why would I dog him?


Some one hinted at Bruce and since they were in Cali I spoke up... Another friend, I actually have a lot of them...


To the one that knows that I am talking too him, what are you bored? You got to troll over here to talk smack. I have warned you once, TO YOUR FACE! Do you want to bring that out? Stay out of TurboBuick.com business and tend to yours....

Pathetic:o


Sorry for the interuption of this thread!
 
It's ok, we all have friends here. That's why there has been 500 views in a day, but most are reluctant to post. That's alright. But let's keep this topic on track. I did not post this as a shoot from the hip kind of deal. Like I said on TBS.com, It was a last resort kind of deal, and I hate to do it. Might even feel a little dirty for it. In any case, I know Len has lots of friends (thought I was one of them), a great rep etc. This does not change how he handled me or my transmission.

I did not do this out of spite, or to help any other tranny guys. I did this because Len Freeman took my 9 second tranny money and gave me a stock rebuild with defective parts, and tried to sluff me off. It's funny that he thought I would never find out.
 
It's ok, we all have friends here. That's why there has been 500 views in a day, but most are reluctant to post. That's alright. But let's keep this topic on track. I did not post this as a shoot from the hip kind of deal. Like I said on TBS.com, It was a last resort kind of deal, and I hate to do it. Might even feel a little dirty for it. In any case, I know Len has lots of friends (thought I was one of them), a great rep etc. This does not change how he handled me or my transmission.

I did not do this out of spite, or to help any other tranny guys. I did this because Len Freeman took my 9 second tranny money and gave me a stock rebuild with defective parts, and tried to sluff me off. It's funny that he thought I would never find out.

Was this your tranny or the other guys tranny?
 
It's a customers. But as I am the one that is responsible to make sure this guy gets what he paid for, I referred to it as mine. It's my money that is getting spent on this ordeal. Sorry for the confusion.
 
I am not here to defend Len Freeman, I am not here as a mod of this section, and I am not here to belittle Disco Stu & Whiplash. I can't even say that I am a close friend of Lens, nor can I say that I am a close friend of Disco Stus or Whiplash. I have talked by E-mail & posts to Len over the years, and i believe him to be of good moral character and an upstanding turboBuick peep. I think that over the years I have talked to Disco Stu at least on posts, and maybe even PM or E-mail, really don't remember. But i do believe Disco Stu to be of good moral character and another upstanding turboBuick peep. I regret that whatever happened to you guys tranny rebuild did not work out, regardless of whoever owns the responsibility for whatever happened. I sincerely hope that you guys get whatever needs be reconciled to be happy. I still have the utmost faith in Len Freeman, his trannies, and his character. My tranny will still be done at Len freeman's shop in Las Vegas. If I was closer to Bruce at PTS it would be a toss-up, but as I am only a hop, skip, & a jump from Len, Len it shall be.
Klever, may I take this opportunity to recommend Don Wang at DRW Transmission down towards San Diego, or Art Carr, at wherever in the hell's he at. I am sure that Don Wang will take good care of you and treat you fairly. If you go to Art Carr's, I am sure that you and Art Carr will become long last friends, at least during your 1 or more of your many visits to his shop. The national average for re-visits to Art Carr's shop is about 3 or so for shift kit, re-adjustment, deep pan, & cooler installation, and about 10 for a fresh rebuilt tranny. He does only charge you once though on the tranny rebuild. And I am sure that Bruce Toelle at Xtreme in Willits will take good care of you & your car.
Stu & Whiplash, I hope that everything works out in the end for you guys, financially & speed wise. Good luck to everybody & HTH.
 
I sincerely appreciate everyone's responses and totally understand your caution to avoid slandering one side vs the other. However, if I may, if some of you are close friends with Len Freeman, perhaps do several Buick owners a favor by getting into contact with him and getting him to speak up. Believe me when I say that we NEVER anticipated something like this was going to happen....and honestly speaking, the absolute LAST thing that either Disco Stu or myself want is for this to escalate to small claims court. The drama of that whole process is more than any of us desire, I'm sure. I believe I speak for the both of us when I say there's still time to make resitution before this progresses....

So PLEASE, if you have the means, do both Disco Stu, myself AND Len Freeman a favor by contacting him and urging him to speak up....doesn't have to be publicly if he desires....
 
I am not here to defend Len Freeman, I am not here as a mod of this section, and I am not here to belittle Disco Stu & Whiplash. I can't even say that I am a close friend of Lens, nor can I say that I am a close friend of Disco Stus or Whiplash. I have talked by E-mail & posts to Len over the years, and i believe him to be of good moral character and an upstanding turboBuick peep. I think that over the years I have talked to Disco Stu at least on posts, and maybe even PM or E-mail, really don't remember. But i do believe Disco Stu to be of good moral character and another upstanding turboBuick peep. I regret that whatever happened to you guys tranny rebuild did not work out, regardless of whoever owns the responsibility for whatever happened. I sincerely hope that you guys get whatever needs be reconciled to be happy. I still have the utmost faith in Len Freeman, his trannies, and his character. My tranny will still be done at Len freeman's shop in Las Vegas. If I was closer to Bruce at PTS it would be a toss-up, but as I am only a hop, skip, & a jump from Len, Len it shall be.
Klever, may I take this opportunity to recommend Don Wang at DRW Transmission down towards San Diego, or Art Carr, at wherever in the hell's he at. I am sure that Don Wang will take good care of you and treat you fairly. If you go to Art Carr's, I am sure that you and Art Carr will become long last friends, at least during your 1 or more of your many visits to his shop. The national average for re-visits to Art Carr's shop is about 3 or so for shift kit, re-adjustment, deep pan, & cooler installation, and about 10 for a fresh rebuilt tranny. He does only charge you once though on the tranny rebuild. And I am sure that Bruce Toelle at Xtreme in Willits will take good care of you & your car.
Stu & Whiplash, I hope that everything works out in the end for you guys, financially & speed wise. Good luck to everybody & HTH.
Thanks GARY, will take your advice..
 
I am sorry for interupting this thread as I did. Someone hinted at Wilton Ca, which is where PTS is...

Len is not a vendor here either. I was making a point to someone not in this thread. Sorry if it was taken the wrong way....

BTW, Century Trans decided not to support the board. Keep that in mind too!
 
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