Fiats and First Gear

I've had a Fiat Punto, my folks have had one. Or is that two? Anyway, point is both of them suffered from a very serious problem. Sometimes it just wouldn't shift into first gear. This meant that you'd think it was and it would just do nothing. Other times it would be pretty obvious that it wasn't in fact in gear. Anyway, just a little annoyance that could have been potentially serious!