It's generally not a good sign when three identical certified letters -- addressed to the publisher, the editor and the columnist -- simultaneously arrive at a newspaper office. It usually means the columnist really, really ticked someone off, or that the columnist really, really screwed up, or that the columnist found out something really, really juicy about someone important -- and that litigation is pending to stop that columnist from disclosing that juicy morsel.
We here at This Fine Newspaper, with yours truly serving as the columnist in question, had this happen to us about two weeks ago. But in this case, the letter actually turned out to be a good sign -- a sign that someone cared.
Background: On Oct. 10, I wrote a column, published in this very space, detailing some recent work I had done on my vehicle. Long story short, I took my 1990 Chevy Corsica in for some work. The car needed new back brake shoes, I knew, because my father, a competent mechanic, had examined them and told me so. I needed a new muffler, I knew, because my old one was about to fall off. And I thought I might need new shocks, but I wasn't sure.
Being in a hurry, I took my Corsica to a business on Kietzke Lane which I referred to in my column, titled "Yes, you WILL pay a lot for that muffler," as "Schmeineke." At the shop, I was given an estimate that the repair work would cost $1,400, or $985 if I didn't have the shocks done. This led to heart palpitations on my part, seeing as the car is probably not worth $1,400 -- or 1,400 Italian lire, for that matter. The shop, rudely, refused to just change the brake pads and the muffler; the manager said the shop could be sued if something went wrong, and that it needed to replace the brake drums and much of the rest of the exhaust system, too. I then proceeded to take the car to a local shop in Sun Valley, which replaced the brake shoes and put on a new muffler for $420.
In the column, I had a little fun with the incident, although everything in the piece was true. And apparently, some of the more astute readers were able to determine that the shop on Kietzke that I was talking about was Meineke Discount Muffler and Brakes.
Back to the letter. It was from a man named Steven Loye, who is the president of the company that owns the Meineke shops in Northern Nevada. This Fine Newspaper ran the letter on this page last week; you may remember it.
The letter's gist was that Meineke's local shops are "Motorist Assurance Program" certified, which means the shops follow certain safety standards that prohibit the shops from doing work that would leave a car unsafe. Loye said that apparently my car's exhaust system and brake drums were unsafe and needed to be completely fixed, according to these standards. He also made me an offer: Come in and have the car checked again, with both of us present. If the car didn't meet these standards, we would print a retraction; if the car met these standards, he'd pay the $420 that I spent to get my car fixed.
I called up Loye recently, and we had a brief but friendly discussion. He apologized for his manager's rudeness, and further explained these MAP safety standards. I apologized for having fun at the expense of his business.
Here's what it came down to: These MAP standards weren't explained to me, and Loye apologized for that, pledging to make sure they are better explained in the future.
I declined his offer to have my car re-inspected, because of the simple fact that my car is running swimmingly now -- the muffler is intact and working, and my brakes seem perfect without any noise or uneven braking.
In any case, I appreciated his letter. As I said in the original column, I felt like Meineke was trying to screw me. I felt like the company didn't care. Well, now I know that the company does care; the conversation I had with Loye proved that to me.
In his letter, Loye said that his company will "take any such accusations seriously and have always responded personally to known complaints." And that's very, very good to know.
Jimmy Boegle is a fifth-generation Nevadan. His column appears here Tuesdays, and he can be reached via e-mail at jiboegle@stanfordalumni.org.