April 5th- No Response

The days following all of this I did get a call from Matt Welch and also an email.  I told him about my expectations but he couldn't really do anything as a sales person.
I had contacted the Better Business Bureau though and in follow up with the BBB I was told that a copy of my report would be sent to Brenengen.  On April 2nd, with it being over a month with no response to my report, I decided to try again.  When I told my neighbor my horror story he was very surprised and encouraged me to contact the owner of the whole operation who I believe is Don Brenengen.  I looked him up on the internet since his contact information was not on the Brenengen website.  Eventually I got his voice mail and left a message regarding this issue and also referencing and email I sent on April 2nd which I will put at the end of this post.  I figured he would call me back in the next few days....


Here is the email I sent to Don Brenengen and Matt Welch:

Hello- I purchased a vehicle from you in the end of February. There
was an incident with your auto group which I ended up reporting to the
BBB. Yesterday I was talking to my neighbor, a friend of one of the
Brenengens during childhood and he was surprised that you had not
rectified the situation. I decided to try writing to see if you would
have a more satisfying response.
For reference, here is my desired outcome from this incident as stated
to the Better Business Bureau in my complaint submitted to them
regarding Brenengen Chevrolet in West Salem. This is what I told
them:
"Desired outcome:
A personal apology from Mr. Dennis Zee in front of all of his sales
employees. Also, since Brenengen relies on their name for sales I
feel the public should know. So, I desire this apology to be printed
in the local papers (Cashton Record, Sparta Herald, and the Coulee
news of West Salem). Finally, this apology be backed up by
compensation for my time lost due to not being able to see the
vehicle, time driving there, time filling out this complaint, and
mental anguish due to the situation."

Further, last week the radio in this vehicle broke- it now scratches
every CD we put into it and we are also slowly noticing rust on some
spots of the vehicle and a huge gouge in the bumper- which may or may
not have been there when we purchased it, we are not sure. Lets just
say, I am not satisfied with your customer service or attention to
detail.

Also, I wrote a letter to the editor of the local papers which I don't
think ended up getting printed anywhere. Here it is for your
reference and to get the story:

Dear editor,

In small towns businesses rely upon their reputation and name for
continued business and loyalty. I am writing because I want my
neighbors to know about my unacceptable experience with the customer
service at Brenengen Chevrolet and to a lesser extent with Brenengen
KIA in West Salem, WI.
Imagine walking into an auto dealer, asking about a few vehicles, and
being told that you cannot look at them. The other day I went to
Brenengen Chevrolet to look at a few vehicles I was considering
switching into as a part of their Confidence Plus warranty. I
originally had purchased my vehicle from Brenengen Ford in Sparta. I
was planning on working through my original salesman there to work out
the Confidence Plus warranty. I had not been informed of the fact
that if I tried to go to another Brenengen dealer to simply look at a
vehicle I would be coldly received by the sales people and ultimately
denied the opportunity to look at, sit in, and drive a vehicle. All
of this because I wasn’t there with the original sales person? Don’t
let Brenengen deceive you and make you think they care about the
customer. Each location and many sales persons only care about the
customer if you are THEIR individual customer who will make them a
sale. To be fair, I received good customer service from Brenengen
Ford, even when I was not working with my sales person.
The story gets a little better and a little worse. After being
received coldly at Brenengen Chevrolet I went to Brenengen KIA to look
at a vehicle there. I was received warmly by the sales person until
the words “Confidence Plus Warranty” were said. At that point, the
sales person wasn’t interested anymore. Luckily, at Brenengen KIA the
sales manager was willing to help us and things worked out ok.
Then the story gets HORRIFIC. I returned to Brenengen Chevrolet
thinking that if I were to talk to the sales manager I might be able
to get some better help. I was thinking that this person wouldn’t
have to worry as much about the fact that he wasn’t getting credit for
a sale. I told the sales person this and was brought to the sales
manager, Mr. Dennis Zee. I was promptly informed of their policy that
I could only look at vehicles at the dealer lot where I had purchased
the vehicle. This was a different story than I had been told earlier
when I talked on the phone to Brenengen Ford in Sparta. When on the
phone I was told that I could look at cars on any of the lots but the
deal would have to be ultimately worked out through Brenengen Ford
where I purchased my vehicle. I was fine with working with my
salesperson and the Brenengen Ford lot in Sparta. I simply wanted to
look at some vehicles in West Salem, especially since I was already
there! Is it really that much work to let someone look at a vehicle?
At this point I told Mr. Dennis Zee that I felt like I was getting
‘the run around.” Combined with the fact that I was getting different
stories and cold looks from sales people was the fact that I was at a
car dealer and they wouldn’t show me a car! While Mr. Dennis Zee was
on the phone with Brenengen Ford in Sparta, he turned to one of his
sales people and said they were not going to show me any cars that
day. I was then put on the phone with Matt Brenengen in Sparta and he
kindly explained the same thing regarding using the warranty only
through the same Brenengen location. I explained that I simply wanted
to look and had no problem working the deal through their store. Then
I gave the phone to Mr. Dennis Zee who told Matt Brenengen that he was
not going to show me any cars because of ‘what I had said.’ What
exactly had I said? I said I felt like I was getting ‘the run around’
and that the sales people were not very willing to work with me. I am
sorry Mr. Zee, but if you can’t handle being told that your customer
service needs some work maybe you need to learn something about
customer service. Mr. Zee hung up the phone and I asked if he could
call Matt Brenengen back because I felt I had been unfairly
represented. What exactly had I said that was out of line? Once on
the phone I was told that Matt Brenengen had left his office. Instead
I talked to my sales person and told him that I wondered if Mr. Zee
was treating me so harshly because I had somehow challenged his power
in front of his employees by naming my cold reception by the sales
people and my feeling of getting a run around. In the background I
could hear Mr. Zee laughing at me. After my call Mr. Zee again told
me that I could not see any vehicles today because of what I had said.
I asked if he could explain what I said. I was told that I had said
he was giving me ‘the run around.’ I explained why I felt that way.
Since I felt I had explained away his reason for his being so rude to
me I again asked why? This time he referenced my comment about his
power. Oddly though, he had already made up his mind much before my
comment about his power. I can agree that though I believe it was
true I didn’t need to make that comment. Finally, since so much time
had been spent debating about how their Confidence Plus Warranty
worked and discussing on the phone, it was closing time. Mr. Zee said
he wasn’t going to talk anymore and led me out of the store.
My neighbors in this community, be warned! If you shop at Brenengen
you are not allowed to criticize their customer service. It is their
way or the highway! Also, if you don’t know their rules and follow
them exactly, you will be treated rudely and not served. Finally, if
you can’t make them more money, you are not important. Pray and hope
that nothing goes wrong with your purchase! There is a chance that
you will not want to be a “Customer for life.”


Sadly submitted,
Timothy Johnston
Cashton, WI