Yuck, need advise... Junkyard trans problems

[Nate]

Allright, I blew 3rd gear out of my escort last week (fooling around, VROOMMMM grind..................... **** )... Local yards want $275, I found one 2 and a half hours away for $125 with a better warente. Good deal, so I go get it... I'm crunched for time, so I was real quick in picking it up. Enough time to quick look it over, pay for it, and load it up....

So, i get home, unload it, and start to clean it up. My plan was to take my car apart today after I got back from Fort Mccoy (an hour ago). As I was cleaning it, I found something that made my stomach drop... There's a hole in the bell housing. About the size of my pinkey, on the top side of the trans.
Also, the flat spot where the sticker for the serial number should be is blank... Just some stickey residue...

They're closed till monday, but they seemed kinda shady. They were opperating out of an old car wash (grates in the floors covered with carpet), and didnt even have a lift... Just a forklift, and lots of jackstands/jacks... All the cars in the parking lot (compleatly crammed) had plates on them. I'm thinking they might have been a chop shop. It cost me $20 to drive down and back... I want money back...

So here's my plan, I'm going to call them on monday, and go from there. If they ask me to bring it back, I'll say that I will bring it back for $75. OR if after I JB weld the hole, put it in and test it (2 weeks from now), If it checks out OK, I'll ask for $50 back... To be mailed, and be given one weeks time to recieve the check




Would that be unreasonable?

backup plan, if they refuse to deal with me, is to drive there, with the trans and paperwork, and go to the local police...

Selling a transmission with a scraped off serial sticker cant be too legal, and I'm sure there's some illegal opperations going on. That many plated cars parked in a parking lot... Andno safetey glasses either, anywhere...

Can someone give me better advise?

Tks alot
~Nate