Another example of the world's worst customer service

[Kairide]

Mercedes, Audi, etc would have a truck there in a flash, no questions asked.

Speaking from experience, I had 2 Audi’s break down a week apart, luckily both still under warranty.
The first one was pretty good, called Audi roadside and had a tow truck within an hour.
Second one was bad, called numerous times to Audi roadside and finally got a tow truck 2 1/2 hours later. The tow truck driver arrived and said he would tow my car and keep it overnight in their lot and tow it to Audi the next day. The dealership was 30 mins away and was only 5pm and the dealership was open to take cars until 8pm.
I told him to go pound sound, I’m not letting him take my TT to some sketchy tow yard overnight for no reason.
Called my insurance company and had another truck within an hour and towed to the dealership within plenty of time.
The people at the Audi dealership were apologizing non-stop and told me I did the right thing by refusing to let the first tow truck driver take the car. They immediately reimbursed me for the extra mileage I paid out of pocket since I exceeded my insurance’s allotted mileage. They also gave me free Audi Care maintenance package on my next Audi I bought.
Roadside assistance is hit or miss, no matter which manufacturer since they all outsource it. The difference is in the customer service recovery. That’s something Tesla needs to improve on.

 

[Otto Zhang]

Better look at the bottom of the car. If the battery pack is visibly damaged. Don't drive this car.

 

[cwerdna]

Yes - this ALSO happened to me, a 90kw pack was installed at the end of the warranty before I ever bought the car, and they didn't cripple it to 60kw (yet it is still just as heavy!) until last week - and somehow are trying to blame ME for this, while trying to extort $4500 from me to return functionality they stole from my car.

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "kw".

 

[ochompsky]

You are absolutely correct, it's worst case scenario.

But there are multitudes that would like to be in your situation rather than being raped for Petro continuously.

cringe

 

[David.85D]

Yup always have Roadside Assistance from your insurance company..

Find out if they classify it as a claim. Completely sucks to have your rate go up (even just loosing a claim free discount) for a towing claim.

I went with Better World Club (like AAA but more bicycle and electric car friendly. AAA lobbies to get rid of bike lanes which is 100% stupid.)

 

[David.85D]

That's a stretch saying "Tesla literally guides it's employees to do the opposite". It's probably more like bad training. The reality is the OP had a flat tire and there were not any Tesla resources to take care of it. The delivery of this message is the problem.

They use third party tow operators. I haven’t seen a Tesla operated tow since maybe 2014. Back then the local service had a pickup and flatbed trailer and would get your car with that rig.

If AAA can dispatch a third party provider and Tesla can not, there are only a few answers and they all look bad:

1) Tesla refuses to pay the going rate.

2) Tesla has been cut off.

Since Tesla made a commitment to its customers to provide this service, it’s another major breach.

 

[ucmndd]

Since Tesla made a commitment to its customers to provide this service, it’s another major breach.

It’s important to acknowledge that Tesla made no such commitment to the OP or their car, which is well out of warranty.

 

[Pcm888usa]

Why on earth would Tesla foot the bill because you hit something in a 7 year old out of warranty car? Talk to your insurance company. This has nothing to do with the manufacturer.

Sorry. Did not notice the car is out of warranty.

 

[Kairide]

I went with Better World Club (like AAA but more bicycle and electric car friendly. AAA lobbies to get rid of bike lanes which is 100% stupid.)

I wish we could get rid of bike lanes too. For some reason they get shoved on to the shoulder of the narrowest roads in CA. Then the bicyclists always ride on the left side of the lane closest to traffic and when there’s multiple they ride side-by-side so they can “chat” not caring that they are riding outside the bike lane blocking the cars behind them.
If would also help if bicyclists understood that if they want the privilege to ride on the road like a car, stop signs and red lights apply to them too.
Ok rant over

 

[Trunk Gap]

Can you please point me to the roadside assistance programs for these makes that would have a truck there “in a flash” for a 7 year old well out of warranty vehicle, no questions asked?

Perhaps you don’t have a good enough relationship with your dealer to where they take care of you well enough to do so.
Thats an aside from the whole of the point of the post which you clearly disagree with, right? So you think Tesla delivers the best service and best ownership experience, do you? You must be a rare gem. Please, do tell us more.

 

[Doanster1]

Perhaps you don’t have a good enough relationship with your dealer to where they take care of you well enough to do so.
Thats an aside from the whole of the point of the post which you clearly disagree with, right? So you think Tesla delivers the best service and best ownership experience, do you? You must be a rare gem. Please, do tell us more.

C’mon, you really have a “good” relationship with your non-Tesla dealer that if you broke down, out of roadside warranty, that you’d call them up, identify yourself by “name” and they’d recognize you and get a tow out asap because of it? All roadside customer service interactions run the gamut of awesome to horrible, all depends on the agent on the other end. In Tesla’s case there’s def much to be desired in terms of contact and follow-up/through.
That doesn’t mean I agree with OP’s statement or expectations. The response received from Tesla was way contrite and didn’t offer alternatives, but again, I’d prob get the same response if I called for help with my out-of-warranty Bimmer.
Key here is setting expectations. I’m out of warranty so would use my insurance company’s roadside clause vs Tesla’s. Lowers the angst level that way…
Only time I’ve called them in the recent past was when an old V1 SuC station was literally overheating in 120deg weather to the point where cars would charge for 1-5 minutes then get the red ring of death. It was a Saturday so of course no one answered. Cars in line were giving me dirty looks because I kept having to plug/charge/unplug/plug. That’s where I’d like for them to have sep support. SuC issues are more impactful with no other alternatives vs roadside where you can call for a tow on your own.

 

[Trunk Gap]

I think getting into the tit for tat about Dealer relations will only result in banter about what people believe about strangers on the internet, so YMMV. Summary is yes absolutely that’s normal with high end 150k+ cars. My dealers I do business with know I buy cars. If I have one 7yrs out of warranty and feel like texting him to help me with a tow, that GM would come himself and pick me up if he had to. A) because there is a relationship, human/human respect and b) because he knows this one may be 7yrs out but the others sure aren’t and I’m gonna come calling any time with an order. So they take care of their clients. With tesla, you’d be lucky to get a human to tell you no after an hour wait on hold. I’m not defending the person saying tesla *should* pick up the tow on an out of warranty situation. Their company is not structured to treat clients in such a way and THATS what my problem with Tesla is and why my personal ownership experience has declined almost over a decade of being a tesla customer. Taking care of the tow in this case simply is indicative of a brand who understands the value of a relationship over a transaction.

Tesla does not get this yet, at least at scale. I hope they do, because if they paired effective empathetic service with the performance/product they deliver, like it used to be, the experience would be unparalleled. I get it, not what shareholders want, but at some point every company realizes a point in time where that tradeoff becomes negative. Tesla is far from that point in my eyes, lots of “just make more cars!” quarters to go before service is a point of emphasis. I get it. Just don’t like it

 

[ucmndd]

Perhaps you don’t have a good enough relationship with your dealer to where they take care of you well enough to do so.

An upside to the dealership model where they are willing to expend some of their own resources (not the manufacturer's) to keep you happy and on the sales/service teat. Tesla doesn't have that model, never has. Your original post said "Audi/Mercedes would have a tow truck there in a flash, no questions asked", not "Bubba Gump Porsche/Audi where I have personally spent $600,000 in the last 10 years would have a tow truck there for ME in a flash because I've proven myself to be a whale." I pointed out that isn't true - the manufacturer roadside assistance programs are done with you when your car is out of warranty.

Thats an aside from the whole of the point of the post which you clearly disagree with, right? So you think Tesla delivers the best service and best ownership experience, do you? You must be a rare gem. Please, do tell us more.

I said nothing of the sort. Weak straw man.

 

[Barry]

If would also help if bicyclists understood that if they want the privilege to ride on the road like a car, stop signs and red lights apply to them too.

Depends on the state. Here in Colorado, the "Idaho Stop" is law. That means that bicycles can treat a stop sign as a yield sign and a red light as a stop sign.

One of my kids lives in the bay area. I was there last week and we did a couple of bike trips. I insisted on roads lightly trafficked (once we got out of SF across the GGB). On a previous trip, she took me up the coastal highway in Marin Co. and that was the scariest ride I'd ever done in terms of car traffic.

Funny how every thread drifts off-topic like this...

I’m out of warranty so would use my insurance company’s roadside clause vs Tesla’s.

Back on topic - in retrospect, I agree. The one and only time I called Tesla roadside in the past was about 6 years ago for a flat tire. I called them this time because I assumed many tow truck operators still aren't familiar with Teslas. This isn't CA. Lesson learned and hopefully my last dealing with Tesla.

 

[XHokie]

Can you please point me to the roadside assistance programs for these makes that would have a truck there “in a flash” for a 7 year old well out of warranty vehicle, no questions asked?

This is difference between the Tesla model (i.e. direct to consumer sales/"service") vs the traditional dealership model. MB, Audi, BMW, Lexus/Toyota, Honda/Acura corporate have very little to do with the direct interaction/service you get from the dealerships. Of course, there are benchmarks/standards, training, and SOPs they are all supposed to follow, but the dealership/brand/family ultimately decides how/what they want to do and treat their customers...for better or for worse.

To more directly answer your question, in 2021, I had a '14 Lexus RX SUV where I had a similar roadside assistance situation, about 120ish miles away from the dealership I purchased the car from. The dealership provided 3 years of full maintenance with the vehicle as long as I serviced it through them, and lifetime roadside assistance as long as I owned the vehicle. When my incident happened, despite being over a 100 miles away from the dealership, within about 30 minutes they found a towing company who would flatbed my vehicle to them and gave me a ride to the dealership, where I could pick up my free loaner for the time it would take for them to fix my car. Obviously, I paid out of pocket for the fixes and $99 for the towing, but I knew that going into it since the car was out of warranty and they told me on the phone about the towing fees. The reality was, Lexus/Toyota corporate had nothing to do with this...it's how the dealership treated me as it's customer so that they had a chance to get my business once again if/when I was in the market. Lexus' are far from advanced in terms of in-car tech (it's almost embarrassing how bad they are...) compared to Tesla and lightyears away from even coming close to Tesla IMO. However, in terms of vehicle quality and customer service, above and beyond what I've experienced with Tesla. Lexus dealerships have always treated me more than fairly and made me feel very valued, like I was not just another customer buying their car. @Barry is right...Tesla is far from treating it's customers in the same way when problems arise.

 

[Russell]

I have been charging it to 100% since this happened, and the car has been complaining that it is bad for the battery - AND metrics from the Tessie app (which I believe are pulled from the BMS) are now showing 3% degradation that wasn't there before.

But regardless of how "lucky" you think I should feel - here's a perspective for you. This apparently was done because it was "policy" from the company. The same reason was quoted as to why a 2013 model S that was never in the hands of Tesla after the initial sale, now lacks both unlimited supercharging AND premium connectivity. "Company policy changed and that is no longer offered" was what I was told.

So if "company policy" is the only thing keeping your car's air conditioner working or the locks, or the heated seats - because all of those are controlled by the same software... I sure hope that "company policy" doesn't suddenly change to a subscription model for $29.95 per month for each feature, now that the leader of the company is about to be on the hook for 45B for a bad joke.

If there's nothing to stop them from taking away features anytime they want because "company policy".... Best of luck to you then. I'm sure there will be apologists for that when it happens.

What the low level Tesla employee(s) did was wrong. Bring up the issue to management and I'm pretty certain you will prevail.

 

[Kairide]

What the low level Tesla employee(s) did was wrong. Bring up the issue to management and I'm pretty certain you will prevail.

Have you seen how the CEO acts? Leadership starts at the top, do you really think Tesla management is any good?

 

[Barry]

Have you seen how the CEO acts? Leadership starts at the top, do you really think Tesla management is any good?

Then there's Tesla's aversion to voice communication nad channels to contact them.

Those of us who have been around for a while remember Jerome Guillen. He was a VP at Tesla and very customer-friendly, willing to step in and interact directly with customers as a troubleshooter.. Of course, he left Tesla. Someone like that, a customer advocate, wouldn't last at Tesla.

 

[Droschke]

Those of us who have been around for a while remember Jerome Guillen. He was a VP at Tesla and very customer-friendly, willing to step in and interact directly with customers as a troubleshooter.. Of course, he left Tesla. Someone like that, a customer advocate, wouldn't last at Tesla.

Absolutely, and I remember how the service started to decline after Jerome left, and that started to happen even when there was no influx of model 3/Y's.

 

[seclinton]

In the Bay Area, right near the Factory, Brooks Motor Cars, Tesla Certified and labor rates are < than the SC. With Wk057 and those upgrade packages, I"m done with the factory and SC world