April 19th

Well- yesterday, April 19th, I met with Don Brenengen at the Brenengen Auto body shop.  He introduced me to his son Scott.  It is interesting.  I have now talked to Matt Brenengen at the Sparta Ford, Scott Brenengen at the Brenengen Auto body, and Don Brenengen- their father and the owner.  All of the Brenengens are easy to work with, kind, and have the ability to put themselves in the shoes of the customer.  I am impressed with them.  Really it is just Dennis Zee who puts a snag in the whole thing. 
I met with Don at the body shop because they were going to look at a crack in the back bumper which we spotted a few days after getting the vehicle.  I told him I didn't know if it was there before we bought the vehicle or not.  I think because of our troubles he wanted to repair it.  Also, they are going to replace our CD player and touch up a rust spot with some buffing compound.  Don is really making an attempt to make things right and I appreciate that. 
I didn't talk to Don long but I did want to mention to him that his son Matt was as helpful as he could be when Dennis Zee called him.  Still, Dennis was the one in power.  I just wanted Don to know that my sense was that his boys were taught well.  Don then mentioned to me that there are times when Dennis Zee doesn't think he is wrong and that they are working on that (I don't know if that is the verbatim of what he said but something like that).
Anyway, I guess Don has helped to change my mind a bit.  I still am insulted that I had to contact them over a month after my Better Business Bureau report.  Don said he never saw it.  When I talked to the Better Business Bureau the day after filing my report, I was told a copy would be sent to Brenengen and I was under the impression it would be to the West Salem Chevrolet since I specifically reported that location.  I have a sneaking, though unconfirmed, suspicion that Dennis Zee was trying to cover up his mistake and was hoping I wouldn't pursue it any further.  I don't trust Mr. Zee at all and ultimately I think his pride and self image is more important to him that the customer or anything else.  Even if Mr. Zee did cover things up, it still took 12 days for Don to get back to me.  I suppose I can understand that he might have been looking into the whole thing and I guess I am willing to give him that since he seems to be a reasonable person. 
So... for now we are waiting until a radio comes in- not sure if it will be new or used, I think used.  Then we will get the stuff on the car fixed.
It seems that will be the end of it.  Mr. Zee, sadly, will not ever see any reprimand publicly for his actions and will not have to apologize to me.  I think at a minimum he should invite our family to his store, apologize in front of his employees, and offer some sort of compensation that hurts HIS and only HIS bottom line- maybe a couple free oil changes or something like that.  I don't think that will happen.  Even more satisfying than some oil changes would be him going to some sort of EXTRA customer service training and providing proof to us he went along with a letter explaining what he should have done instead of what he did.  For me, this whole thing isn't about getting something free.  It is about Dennis Zee needing to change his ways.  In the end, I only get a consolation prize, a few car repairs instead of the correcting of the core problem.  Still, someone else could walk in and have to deal with Dennis Zee and his self-centered, crappy customer service. 
So... you, my reader, I would recommend that you still patronize Brenengen Auto but AVOID AT ALL COSTS the Chevrolet dealer in West Salem.  The sales people there are managed by Dennis Zee and anyone who is managed by that man is someone I will NEVER want to work with.  If I were the owner of Brenengen I would want to buy him out and ask him to leave the Brenengen group.
I will give you a final update once our car is repaired.

Tim