I am having a serious wobble. If (big IF) I get a call Monday morning saying I can collect Monday afternoon I'm going to refuse. I'm travelling on business next week anyway and am going to talk the decision over with my boss. He is fairly impartial in all this, lives in California, familiar with EVs but views them as just another car without the "obsession" attached to many of us on this forum. It is fair to say I have become obsessed with getting this car (it's also partly the transition to EVs in general). So it is tougher than the usual SUV/Saloon/Sport/Brand decision.
I can honestly say I have never been so disappointed with a purchase experience in my entire life. Whilst there is no doubt I would love the car this experience has filled me with dread. The main issue being the attitude of Tesla UK staff through the entire process peaking with my experience with the guy on the front desk in Birmingham, who couldn't have cared any less. The only other staff member who spoke to me was the finance paperwork guy. Nobody called after I left, despite the promises, no emails and no calls from the main delivery team. Nothing again today until I contacted the Delivery Manager for UK North and Ireland who was the chance contact I made when I decided to ditch my original spec. She's a beacon amongst an otherwise careless Tesla UK culture and Birmingham isn't even her area.
Mine is not a one-off issue. This is symptomatic of Tesla UK and runs throughout the organisation. When things go well they are all fluffy and nice, when things go wrong or are difficult they all hide. When you get hold of them they lie, make stuff up and fob you off. One thing is for sure, something will go wrong with the car at some point and I cannot deal with the thought that this will be what I'm up against. A bunch of people who don't know what they are doing, working for a business which has no structure, systems or customer service to deal with customers with issues. What if I back into a post, get shoved into a verge, write of wheels in a pothole, get hit in a car park or worse? I'll be up against this all over again. Without a car and without any kind of communication, concern, urgency, customer care for weeks or months.
No doubting it is a truly great product, but the great part of Tesla just isn't here in the UK yet. I consider myself an early adopter, but I'm not into this kind of masochistic decision making. Once bitten, twice shy, this could be a blessing. In the lifecycle of a car a couple of years is nothing and by then Tesla may have arrived in the UK properly, the Y will be about and there will be other EVs around.
My plan is to refuse delivery next week for two weeks (super busy the week I get back anyway) and if they give my car to someone else, they will make the decision for me. If not, and I still feel the same once my blood cools I will ask for my £9k back, leave the £2k in as a deposit and revert to my original spec and order. The order will no doubt take months to match to a car with 19" Sport wheels and I'll have more time to think before I finally pull the trigger to cancel. I'll be watching pricing at the same time. One of the main reasons I was so keen on the Model 3 early adoption was the thought the reservation system would help avoid all this inevitable mayhem, but it hasn't made any difference either.
How they handle the whole process in the coming weeks will be the kicker for me. I know the car is fabulous, but I can't abide in dealing with people who couldn't care less about customers, let alone some general courtesy to fellow human beings. Perhaps I may even get an apology. I'm not expecting BMW or Mercedes customer service here either, just the crappy usual dealership customer service will do. At least they apologise when things go wrong, offer some kind of assistance, reply to emails, pick up the phone or talk to you when you walk in.