Anyone else/Service? What’s the point of scheduling an appt....

[BinsTezla]

Ive read quite a few service related problems.... but curious if anyone has dealt with actually having an appointment schedule from a week prior... checkin in with them a few hours after drop off, only to be told they don’t know if your car will even be seen on that day, let alone within the next 24/48 hrs?

no loaners.... tried that route. But not sure why they’d even schedule me if it wasn’t going to be looked at today?

almost seems insane....

 

[Ostrichsak]

Ive read quite a few service related problems.... but curious if anyone has dealt with actually having an appointment schedule from a week prior... checkin in with them a few hours after drop off, only to be told they don’t know if your car will even be seen on that day, let alone within the next 24/48 hrs?

no loaners.... tried that route. But not sure why they’d even schedule me if it wasn’t going to be looked at today?

almost seems insane....

Yep. I made an appointment for service that had to be done at the service center rather than mobile. The first available was three weeks out on a Friday morning. We had no choice so we took the slot and planned to drive all the way down to get the car fixed. The big day came so my wife and I took time off of working (no weekend options) to make the over 3-hour round-trip drive to the nearest service center. Upon arrival we were informed there was no loaner and our appointment wasn't actually an appointment to have the car looked at by a tech to determine what the issue was and if they could fix it then or if parts had to be ordered for another future appointment. No no, instead it was a time to get our car put into a physical queue to be looked at when the tech got around to it which we were informed in that moment wouldn't be until the following week. We were offered Uber credits and told that there was no loaner available after taking an entire day to get the car down there for our scheduled service appointment.

As you can imagine, this solution did not work for us in the least for numerous reasons. I calmly but firmly explained what the expectation of the appointment was and why people made them in the first place. My intelligence was insulted by one service manager who tried to tell me this is how other car manufacturers did things too. Dafuq? I guess I just looked like an idiot would believe anything told them them. What a joke.

They had a total of THREE service techs and about ten bays which is why I think the solution isn't more service centers but properly staffing the existing locations. The next closest service center had roughly double the amount of available bays and four service techs. This is unacceptable and their solution is laughable if it wasn't such a frustrating inconvenience. They need to start by doubling staff at all of these service centers that are having issues. This is the bare minimum to just handle the current workload and it needs to ramp up mirroring the sales numbers.

Instead, they just keep cranking out more and more cars and having more and more quality service people quit due to lack of support and being expected to do the job of 4 people with zero support from above or power to resolve problems themselves.

 

[BinsTezla]

Interesting. What a bizarre way to operate... non-sensical on every level, really.

I guess I was sort of hoping that This was a situational flaw.... the more I read, it’s not. A little difficult to make sense of arbitrarily modifying the industry custom definition of what scheduling an appointment means....not to mention thinking that a one way Uber voucher to some people makes up for 2-5 days of keeping your car. Wtf?!

is what it is... doesn’t seem like there’s much we can do about it at this point. Ughhh

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Interesting. What a bizarre way to operate... non-sensical on every level, really.

I guess I was sort of hoping that This was a situational flaw.... the more I read, it’s not. A little difficult to make sense of arbitrarily modifying the industry custom definition of what scheduling an appointment means....not to mention thinking that a one way Uber voucher to some people makes up for 2-5 days of keeping your car. Wtf?!

is what it is... doesn’t seem like there’s much we can do about it at this point. Ughhh

Thanks for your feedback.

Sure thing.

I stopped the story (saga?) short of the remainder since I didn't think it was as applicable. Now, with your focus on loaner/voucher and time frame I can see that more of the story is probably more applicable than I previously thought.

I basically told them that Uber credits didn't work as we lived over 1.5 hours away (at highway speeds) and that credit wouldn't even get us home let alone home, to work, errands, dinner w/friends, etc. and then back once the car was done. (This feels like a good place to note that if our used Tesla car truly had a 70-pt inspection as they claim they would have EASILY caught this potentially dangerous steering/suspension component failure before we ever took delivery negating the need for ANY of this) The back and forth got a little spirited and, after about a half-hour of pleading my case they mysteriously had a loaner that just got returned even though none of the service advisers left the small room we were in. How convenient. The negative was it was an 85 which was RWD and it was last fall with heavy snow predicted for the following week. They assured me the repair would take only a few days and my wife's safety wouldn't be in question as they'd have us back in our 70D in no time.

Fast forward a week from this conversation... I get a message from the service center demanding I bring their loaner. Uh... wut? I attempt to contact via numerous methods (don't forget that contacting a human being at a Tesla service center is nearly impossible unless you live close enough to walk through the door) and finally reached someone who informed me that our car was done and had been done for days. Nobody contacted me despite several attempts on my part previous to this to get an update on the status of the car. This makes me think that had we not demanded a loaner it could have been weeks before we knew our car was ready. I informed them that my wife had the car at work, wouldn't be off until after 5:00 and the snow was already to build. No way in HELL was either one of us making what was sure to be a multi-hour one-way drive that night to get the car back to them and pick ours up. The next day was Friday and it would be the same story (it snowed a LOT over that 48-hour window which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place) so I told them we'd bring the car down Saturday to exchange. It took some convincing but they left the car outside with the fob stashed and we did the swap on our time.

There are a LOT of other details to this one experience and I can tell you that I've had no less than a dozen similarly awful experiences across five Model S cars at two different Denver area Service Centers (there's a 3rd new one I haven't yet been to that was promising but I've heard similar horror stories emerging already) that all varied other than the complete lack of communication from Tesla that could resolve 90% of this BS. They insist on refusing to accept the most universal means of contact for human beings in our lifetime and wonder why this happens. Weird.

tl;dr Tesla "customer service" support is the worst.

 

[beatle]

If you're scheduled that far in advance, it's like trying to predict the weather. There are many cars ahead of you that have unknown timetables to have their work completed. Some might only take an hour or two, some might take longer.

Not saying this is the right way to run a business, but it's what you'd expect for stacks of somewhat unpredictable work.

 

[BinsTezla]

If you're scheduled that far in advance, it's like trying to predict the weather. There are many cars ahead of you that have unknown timetables to have their work completed. Some might only take an hour or two, some might take longer.

Not saying this is the right way to run a business, but it's what you'd expect for stacks of somewhat unpredictable work.

I hear you, but the issue is exactly in the predictable nature of scheduling (or rescheduling) appointments. thats sort of the entire fundamental point that is supposed to, in general, limit "stacks of somewhat unpredicatable work". in my case, to have people showing up on their scheduled appointment dates... and an hour after dropping my car off - some random est date of completion pops up for 2 days later.... except that my car hadn't even been looked at yet. Seems looney tunes...

Sure, if they find something and dont have the part, I obviously choose to leave it there or come grab it and reschedule when the part comes in.

Going into day three... and I literally cant get a response (text as phone is almost impossible) on whether the car has even been looked at or not. Figured telling them I'll just come grab the car and reschedule a mobile tech to come to me at some future date would be a great and simple solution... that was 3 hours ago. Feel like wile e coyote over here.

 

[North75]

I've been to the service center 3 times. Once to pick and mount Tesla winter wheels, a second trip to install HW3 computer and a third visit earlier this week to replace the glass roof and perform 2 year maintenance. On each occasion the work was performed on the scheduled day without issue. If anything all three appointments went faster than I was expecting. All were completed in a few hours.

I only live 4 miles from my local service center, so I haven't had a need for a loaner. In the past the uber credits have worked out fine. On the visit this week they offered me a loaner, but declined. I just walked home as I don't really want to take an Uber at the moment.

All of my visits have been for straightforward things, but I've been very happy with the experience. These are all at the Watertown, MA service center.

 

[BinsTezla]

I've been to the service center 3 times. Once to pick and mount Tesla winter wheels, a second trip to install HW3 computer and a third visit earlier this week to replace the glass roof and perform 2 year maintenance. On each occasion the work was performed on the scheduled day without issue. If anything all three appointments went faster than I was expecting. All were completed in a few hours.

I only live 4 miles from my local service center, so I haven't had a need for a loaner. In the past the uber credits have worked out fine. On the visit this week they offered me a loaner, but declined. I just walked home as I don't really want to take an Uber at the moment.

All of my visits have been for straightforward things, but I've been very happy with the experience. These are all at the Watertown, MA service center.

I like the sounds of this! Provides some hope.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[PhilDavid]

Ive read quite a few service related problems.... but curious if anyone has dealt with actually having an appointment schedule from a week prior... checkin in with them a few hours after drop off, only to be told they don’t know if your car will even be seen on that day, let alone within the next 24/48 hrs?

no loaners.... tried that route. But not sure why they’d even schedule me if it wasn’t going to be looked at today?

almost seems insane....

Service is unfortunately miserable. The good news is the cars are reliable and hardly need service. However, when you do need service, it's absolutely miserable.

Last time I made a service appointment, they did not get to my car for FIVE days. During this time they ignored all text message requests for an update. In the meantime they parked the car outside birds crapped on the front hood and bird poop baked and etched into the front hood under a hot sun

Almost a year later I'm trying to schedule an appointment and it is just as miserable. They design the best cars in the world but somehow have come up with the worse service for any car I've owned.

I've said this many times but 90% of the service problems can be solved by hiring customer service oriented people to answer the phones at each service center that genuinely care about other human beings and want to help. This may even save them money in the long term by making service more efficient and streamlined. Not being able to talk to a human who can help at the Service Center is the root of most of their service problems.

 

[beatle]

Not being able to talk to a human who can help at the Service Center is the root of most of their service problems.

I think it's more important to talk to a person when something goes wrong than when something is going right. I'd be okay with the less personal service experience if it were more expeditious and prompt, and the communications were more frequent.

When I had service last December for the shudder of death, tail light condensation, steering rack shims, sunroof lubrication, and a door handle replacement they missed my pickup window of 10:30am a couple days after I dropped it off. Not the end of the world, but the app still showed 10:30am in the early afternoon. When I texted to inquire about when it would be ready, they apologized and said it should be ready later in the afternoon. Not long after that I saw the app update to 1:15pm the following day. When I texted back and asked if that was accurate, they told me my car was ready. I picked it up and it was fine.

All in all, my gripes are pretty minor compared to some of the stories I've seen around here. In this case the app actually got in the way of otherwise decent service as it made me think the car would not be ready for an entire extra day.

 

[viper2ko]

How long should one wait before asking or begging for a loaner or rental? Estimated finish time is july 24 for my car dropped it off july 20. If it stretches into next week not having a car is going to be hard, Uber isn't exactly robust where I live.

 

[beatle]

Everyone's transportation situation is different, though if your car is going to be ready tomorrow there's hardly a case for them giving you a loaner. If they suddently push your date until next week, you have more grounds for getting one. That said, if they don't have one, they can't give you one.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

My service experience as of this May:
I had multiple issues I was trying to work into one SC visit (instrument cluster replacement, failed front passenger door handle, damaged underbody shield). It was my experience that the app showed appointments available between 7-14 days in the future, but no one looked at the items in the appt until 48 hrs prior. It happened twice that two days before the appt, we got a txt stating, "we don't have the parts for your service" and it was auto-bumped a week.

 

[ucmndd]

Ive read quite a few service related problems.... but curious if anyone has dealt with actually having an appointment schedule from a week prior... checkin in with them a few hours after drop off, only to be told they don’t know if your car will even be seen on that day, let alone within the next 24/48 hrs?

no loaners.... tried that route. But not sure why they’d even schedule me if it wasn’t going to be looked at today?

almost seems insane....

Bay Area service centers are fantastically oversubscribed and impacted right now it seems, along with a few other high density areas.

It appears they play the odds on this and book more appointments than they can possibly accommodate, on the assumption that some will get canceled, some will get punted due to lack of parts, etc etc.

So in the interest of running “efficiently” and always having a pile of cars laying around to work on, they sometimes don’t get to stuff for a few days.

Certainly more excusable if they put you in a loaner car. Much less so in the age of Uber credits and general lack of interest in customer service.

I’ll say though, it seems to be highly localized - some areas are feeling pain much more than others. My service experiences in Monterey and Fresno, for example, have been consistently excellent.

 

[striekes]

My issues have been I'll choose a date/time for service through the Tesla app, but a few days later someone from Tesla would change my service to a different date/time without consulting me first.

They feel I'm available anytime that is convenient for them.

 

[whitex]

Ive read quite a few service related problems.... but curious if anyone has dealt with actually having an appointment schedule from a week prior... checkin in with them a few hours after drop off, only to be told they don’t know if your car will even be seen on that day, let alone within the next 24/48 hrs?

no loaners.... tried that route. But not sure why they’d even schedule me if it wasn’t going to be looked at today?

almost seems insane....

That is Tesla standard operating procedure, at least that is how they explained it to me last time. My car needed 45m brake job, so I scheduled a few weeks in advance, when I show up, they confirm that it's a 45min job and tell me I need to leave the car there for up to 4 days. I asked if I can just get a time and bring it back and wait an hour, I'm told that's not how Tesla service works. They got it done the next day, but still a bad experience, considering no more Tesla loaners.

 

[viper2ko]

That is Tesla standard operating procedure, at least that is how they explained it to me last time. My car needed 45m brake job, so I scheduled a few weeks in advance, when I show up, they confirm that it's a 45min job and tell me I need to leave the car there for up to 4 days. I asked if I can just get a time and bring it back and wait an hour, I'm told that's not how Tesla service works. They got it done the next day, but still a bad experience, considering no more Tesla loaners.

It is pretty silly. Don't see it changing anytime. They are a big car company for the masses now. Losing a few due to poor service doesn't matter

 

[BLW2]

no loaners? Is that the general rule now?

Everyone's transportation situation is different, though if your car is going to be ready tomorrow there's hardly a case for them giving you a loaner. If they suddently push your date until next week, you have more grounds for getting one. That said, if they don't have one, they can't give you one.

that's pretty generous of you.

Seems to me that if I take a car in for service...pretty much ANY warranty issue, if it's a drop and wait sorta thing for an hour or so then yeah, I would no expect a loaner.... but if it's any sort of leave it situation then i would pretty much expect a loaner.

Out of warranty.... well, I could expect rental in that case, although loaner as good-will gesture if available.


this based on the perspective of a suburbanite.... Maybe different for an urban dweller in Manhattan or someplace, where public transportation is the norm... but where I'm from a car is more of a necessity....

 

[viper2ko]

no loaners? Is that the general rule now?



that's pretty generous of you.

Seems to me that if I take a car in for service...pretty much ANY warranty issue, if it's a drop and wait sorta thing for an hour or so then yeah, I would no expect a loaner.... but if it's any sort of leave it situation then i would pretty much expect a loaner.

Out of warranty.... well, I could expect rental in that case, although loaner as good-will gesture if available.


this based on the perspective of a suburbanite.... Maybe different for an urban dweller in Manhattan or someplace, where public transportation is the norm... but where I'm from a car is more of a necessity....

If i lived in a city uber would be fine. I'll be without my car into next week most likely. I live in the suburbs where uber is hard to get.

 

[Kandiru]

Had service recently, earliest appt. on app was five days later in Columbus, a.k.a.Flavortown?