Service report
I ended up in Santa Clara for the 25k service. It was a good experience overall, somewhat better than my previous experiences in Burlingame. However part of that was due to how I set up the visit, rather than anything the staff did or didn't do.
Let's start with that. When I've used Burlingame I've set it up as a work from home day, and asked for a loaner vehicle. Once that was a pre-AP Model S, and twice it was BMW 3ers. But I'm so spoiled now that I dislike driving an ICE at all, and insist on AP for my commute. I recognize that my expectations may not be reasonable, but those loaner experiences left me irked — maybe even disgruntled.
This time I noticed that Santa Clara is reasonably close to my work, so I opted for an uber ride. I hardly ever need to drive during the day, so that worked out fine. Getting an uber was a little slower than driving away in a loaner would have been, but on the other hand I was able to get a few things done while I was waiting, and more while I was en route.
I'm sorry to say that I didn't ask what they had for loaners. After I decided I'd take an uber I put that out of my mind, and didn't consider it again until I was writing this post.
The service itself was fine. There was some sort of paperwork problem and they ended up comping me on the service, which was nice of them. I don't have any horror stories to report: no damage to my car, no greasy alcantra. They didn't even mess up my driver profile. They washed the car and cleaned the inside. Possibly they did a better job than I would do. They didn't charge it fully, just enough to test the system. But then I didn't ask them to. It looked like they're a bit constrained for charging: I think they only have two HPWC units. Unlike Burlingame they're inside, so they aren't available after hours.
Speaking of charging, the service report says they couldn't find my UMC to test it. I guess I should have shown it to them before I left, but I thought they'd open the hatch and see it in plain sight. No matter.
Some might be interested to know that there's a lot of construction around the Santa Clara SC right now, and getting in and out can be a little confusing. But in that respect I don't think it's any worse than Burlingame.
In conclusion I'll probably use Santa Clara again, at least for same-day service visits. It's more or less on my way to work, which makes me less dependent on a loaner. And they seem to know what they're doing.