Trans. problem in 2000 c230k
 

Hello out there,
I took my 2000 c230k (65,000miles) to a local transmission shop to figure out a problem i have been having.
The car after being driven a few miles and warm stated shifting harder and when shifting from D to R the rpms jumped slightly and it felt like it wanted to stall and eventually would.
A mechanic friend hooked it up to his comp. but no trannie codes showed up, he said it "looked" like the converted might be continuosly hooked up.
The trans. shop said the valve body went bad, causing the converter to lock up.
I have dabbled in mechanics a bit but I cannot find info on this problem any were. Should this have happened so soon on an automatic trannie?

This is gonna cost about 2200 dollars! im told the valve body is about 1200 and the converter 400 plus parts and labor. sounds excessive.
Has anyone had this problem before? Is this common? Will MB do something for me? Money back... any recalls about this?

Thanks for your input and advice.
Alex.