Is this fair practice in mechanic business?

A family member's car broke down while visiting a friend in another city. The transmission had gone. Our family member had to tow the van to the mechanic, and was told the shop was replacing the tranny with a rebuilt. Well, the rebuilt didn't work. So the shop replaced it again, incl. a 3 month warranty in the $1200 cost.

The warranty is up in 2 weeks, and the transmission just gave out. Our family member called the shop, who said our family member must tow it to them in their city. The cost will be over $300, and they have under 2 weeks to get the money, and get it towed there or pay all over again locally for another new transmission.

Does this sound fair? Is it just dumb luck, or is the mechanic in any way resposible, since it will be the 2nd transmission that didnt work? Do we have any alternatives to this dilemma?

No it doesn't sound fair but it is the mechanics right to ask you to return the car to him to fix, especially if he isn't connected with any national car care business. My suggestion is to go to uhaul.com and look at renting a car dolly or a car trailer and tow it there yourself. It might be a little cheaper. Other than having it towed there you're probably SOL

Yeah, the lemon laws on repairs say that the firm doing the repairs must fix anything wrong resulting from the original writeup. That doesn't include towing.

It really sucks, but that's the way it goes. At least the garage is bound to fix it again.

sorry there warranty is for them to fix it get it towed get it fixed if the problem was a warranty thing you may get them to pay the tow you may need to sue then you will win

Well if the transmission gave out under warranty, it would be better for their customer service to go get it for you. i imagine if you scream enough they will bend, cause its kind of unfair. If they put it in, and they got it directly from the manufacturer with the warranty (Granite you have proof) you should be able to take it to a dealership to have them replace it under warranty.

The 300 is for the mechanics time so your not paying for a transmission

Yes, because the "warranty" was for that shop. A non-chain, non-dealer repair shop can't transfer a warranty to another shop.
Something similar happened to my ex-husband in a car our son was driving and he went to small claims court over it. He, unfortunately, lost.

since he drove the car for a while,then i cant see its the mech. fault,but he did say he would fix it,so it sounds like hes being honest with him.

I agree with the other replies to this question,but why go back to a place that seemed not able to get it right twice? Maybe ask the station manager about this and tell him you think it isn't fair to have to pay a tow bill because two of his rebuilt transmissions failed in under 3 months.I personally would contact the BBB (better business bureau) and let them at the shop know so.You can't prove the shop is at fault,but they might want to maintain good customer relations with you and your family.If not,let everyone you know that goes there what happened to you.Word of mouth is a powerful tool.

you can burn down the repair shop