So here’s the update and it’s not good. My car isn’t in Alpharetta yet, still showing “in transit” which apparently translates into “we have no idea where your car is.” Ended up speaking with the delivery manager there who it turns out was the same young man I spoke with yesterday who was of very little help. Asked about a loaner, he said they don’t have any and can’t get me one. Not today, not tomorrow. We spoke about other options (meaning I asked, he didn’t offer anything) and nothing worked. At my insistence he called Avalon to see if they had a test drive vehicle they could spare as a loaner for me, he called me back and said they didn’t have anything they could spare. I asked if they had another car in my configuration that wasn’t assigned to anyone, and they guy literally said “I’ll have to check.” I mean, wouldn’t you check that before you call someone to cancel? Anyway when he called back he said not only do they not have any cars that match my configuration, they don’t even have any in my color.
Other than really being disappointed in both the outcome and the apparent lack of concern for how negatively this is impacting me (you know, the customer?), I was amazed by one bit of information the guy shared. While we were talking about loaners etc he basically told me this happens to so many people and its a known issue so Tesla can’t and won’t offer a loaner or any other sort of remedy for customers in my situation. The tone he took with me was one of indignation that I would even ask, which made my blood pressure spike a bit. I pressed him and he said “this happens to hundreds of people each week.” And I was like, wait, back up, are you telling me that HUNDREDS of delivery appointments get delayed every week in Alpharetta? So then he thought a moment about my question (and probably realized he was using hyperbole too much) and changed his tune to “well, maybe not each week but for sure hundreds each month.” So I repeated and asked him to confirm that hundreds of delivery appointments each month are cancelled in Alpharetta, and he said YES.
If true, that is a shockingly bad record of on time deliveries. They previously told me they delivered over 500 Model 3s last month, so if you figure another 150 S/X that’s 650 or optimistically 700 per month. If 200 get delayed that’s almost 30% of customers experiencing some sort of delay. I’m no logistics expert, but I would not consider that to be good. My wife’s reaction to this entire debacle was exactly what most people will do if Tesla doesn’t get their sh*t together, she said “this is terrible, just cancel the order and go buy a BMW today.”
Anyway, I’ve got to now call my mother-in-law and ask if we can borrow her car for the next week, which just makes me all kinds of happy.
