TMC Member DESinUS has opened himself up to questions in a thread titled “I was a delivery specialist for many years – Ask Me Anything.”
Tesla job postings describe the delivery specialists as “brand ambassadors, supporting our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy by creating memorable experiences for our customers and assisting with delivery day activities.”
DESinUS said he left the company before this week’s round of layoffs, but expressed concerns about the Tesla workplace. “Everybody there is either miserable or brainwashed by the CEO,” he wrote.
When a member suggested he may be holding a grudge against his former employer, DESinUS wrote, “I understand why you’d say that based on my comment. I’m not begrudged with them at all, I’m here to give honest answers on what actually happens. That was a joke that was meant to be funny & sarcastic. I genuinely think Teslas are the best cars on the road on pretty much all fronts. I had the most memorable and epic experiences there. I just think that there are answers to frustrations people have that current employees can’t be transparent about.”
Still, it’s worth keeping in mind that DESinUS has his own viewpoint, which may differ from other delivery specialists.
Below are a few of the questions and answers from the thread.
Q: Do you notice the defects coming into the showroom/sales center and proactively correct them (as a lobbyist of sorts for the consumer) or do you hope that they are not noticed. Were you graded on this, how much post production cost you incurred before delivery of a vehicle? – demundus
A: We do our best to address defects after vehicles undergo PDI (pre delivery inspection) right when they’re unloaded from trucks. The problem is that some centers have amazing detailers, and others have people who don’t take much pride in their work/care enough. I was lucky to have probably the best detailers at Tesla who wouldn’t let anything slide, but I’ve witnessed very half-ass workers as well. Now that deliveries are in hubs rather than smaller centers, there’s a greater chance of things being overlooked. Being the delivery specialist, those issues unfortunately fall on us even though we have nothing to do with the actual handling of the vehicle. Delivery specialists’ whole bonus (which is a joke- literally a couple hundred dollars at the end of quarter + $20/hr base) is based on customer satisfaction. So detailers overlooking things that lead to an upset customer affects our measly bonus.
Sometimes we do notice things day of delivery- which we have to either hope customers don’t notice, or give the option to due bill (bring back later) or delay delivery until it gets fixed.
As far as production cost, not really sure. It’s just a part of the job to make vehicles as perfect as possible.
Q: Do the cars have a QC check sheet filled out when the car arrives from the factory? Do they have one filled out during PDI and new owner walkthrough? – McRat
A: There is the “end of line” checklist for major things like seats being installed, interior panels matching (i’ve seen mis-matched interiors before though), etc. PDI checklists are done at the center- cars don’t queue for delivery unless they clear PDI. Detail teams are the ones noticing the smaller defects that may be present.
Q: Do many sales advisors give out referral codes and how do people usually convince them to give out their own? Do you know of instances where they have used their won rather than the customer provided one? – pkodali
A: Sales people rarely give out their referral because lots can’t afford a tesla. I haven’t heard of employees winning prizes based on referrals. On the delivery end of things, we rarely saw an order without a referral code though.
Q: Which colors tend to have fewer delivery defects? Which colors the worst? What day of the week is best to take delivery in terms of staff attention and a thorough walk-thru? – T34ME
A: Any color but black is typically good from a clear coat/swirl mark perspective. Standard Black is definitely the worst color. The lack of sparkle really accentuates clear coat scratches/swirls that are almost impossible to avoid.
Weekdays are the best since more people don’t have the time to take delivery. Honestly, they only have about 30 minutes to do walkthroughs and they’re always trying to find ways to lessen the time simply because there’s usually not enough man power. Luckily, the cars are very intuitive to learn so you shouldn’t need much time anyways. There are endless videos online too.
See more from the thread here.