Bad Service Center Experience

This is the second time I've had to deal with my local Service Center (Austin, TX), and it's 0 for 2 now.
I just bought a brand new Model 3, about 2 months ago (this is my 4th Tesla). and I had to contact them once for a weird Vibration/Buzzing that was occurring under the front console. I came into the center, on the day of my appointment, and was sent home, without inspecting the car, because I was not able to replicate the sound on command.
So, my car might be broken, but just because they can't see it on their computers, or because I can't replicate it - it's not broken, and they won't inspect it.

Strike one.

Today I noticed that the spoiler that I paid them $865.00 for, installed, is coming off from one side. It's not that bad, but enough to notice. The other side is fine. So, I took some pictures and tried to talk to them by scheduling an appointment. They responded on the app by practically saying "It's not so bad. If we take it off, it'll damage the trunk lift gate. So, contact us again WHEN it get worse."
So, not only is this bull-***, it's unsafe. If it's so bad that it's coming off, there's a likelihood that it will come off while driving 70mph on the freeway, and go flying into someone else's windshield and impale them like Medieval times. But what's even worse is that before I could even respond, he canceled the appointment, and won't respond to my questions anymore.
I asked "honest question, HOW MUCH does it need to come off in order for you to come and re install it?" I wasn't trying to be snarky, or anything. But he just didn't respond at all after that.
So, not only did I overpay for the stupid spoiler by going the "officially from and by Tesla" route (which is widely considered unnecessarily expensive), but they didn't even do a good job at that "unnecessarily expensive" work.

In all my years dealing with Tesla, the main reason why I've seen their Service Center and overall Customer Service decline in quality is because they're not matching the cost of their products and services with the quality thereof. Things were pretty great pre-2016 or so, for me. I got my first Tesla in 2014. The service was INCREDIBLE. Like nothing I had experienced before. And I guess at one point, they thought that it was costing too much to provide that level of quality of service, so it took a dive, for the worse, increasingly so over the years.
I've owned lots of cars. I've owned a lot of BMWs, and one thing that they have, down pat, is that they KNOW their vehicles are expensive, so they KNOW they have to meet the Quality of the Service with how expensive their products are. I know Mercedes Benz is the same way. My girlfriend owned Cadillacs for a while, and they practically roll out the red carpet for ANY service center appointment.

I wish Tesla took into consideration that lots of us care about the fact that we're spending exorbitant (relatively) amounts of money for the love of these products, and I know a big number of owners are at a point, financially, where the most expensive Model X is chump change. I get that. But lots of us are not in that position - so it matters a little more when we're paying for something that we deem "expensive". We expect the quality of the service, and the way they deal with the products under warranty, to match the "cost" for us.

-R.

 

[dmurphy]

So … how do you diagnose a rattle that isn’t happening? Serious question.

The spoiler? That’s just lazy. Those spoilers are well known for not fitting well; no idea why they haven’t corrected that by now.

 

[RipVanFinkle]

Tesla knows their customers will overlook quality and still buy their product. I don’t think this is anything new. I’ve never purchased a car that’s had so many quality issues prior to my M3P. It also amazes me how forgiving people are for all the flaws these cars have. You’re paying to be in the club. It’s like buying a Harley but way more expensive and way poorer quality control.

 

[RonKorakas]

Well, I'm no mechanic, but I have worked on lots of cars before, I do fix some things around the house, and I have put together some electronics. The first thing I'd do, is inspect a component that I know is in the area, that might be loosely-mounted - which is exactly what I described the sound like, and exactly what I told them they should look for. I told them what I thought it was, a motor of some sort, that winds and probably rotates, as the car starts up - as best I could think from all the times working on cars and ac systems. They just didn't want to bother doing it. Probably, pragmatically, it would have been too difficult in their end to take apart the car enough to "try" to find the sound. But the problem was more in the fact that they didn't want to do ANYTHING at all. I had to practically beg to have them do an in - car diagnostic.
I don't think that's acceptable at all.

About the spoiler, it's only been about a week and a half. I know for a fact that it wouldn't be that difficult to take off without damaging the paint - I did it myself for my last Model 3. The only way it might be riskier is if they used VHB, and it was a brand new spoiler, which does not have VHB. I told my girlfriend I would have just bought one off ebay and installed it myself, like with my last Model 3-but she insisted on paying for it so I wouldn't go through the hassle.

That's what I get for trusting, huh?

 

[brkaus]

My experience at the BMW dealer in Austin has been the worst. Sold my BMWs as a result of dealing with them. I hear they are under new ownership now... but too late.

Some of the folks at Teala Austin are good. Some are terrible, or even worse than terrible. Have not yet tried the new south location. Luckily I haven't had any problems recently. Did think it was cool that I asked about tire prices and they came back with "we can order a patch kit and check it out - looks like your front right tire has been low recently".

 

[jjrandorin]

Well, I'm no mechanic, but I have worked on lots of cars before, I do fix some things around the house, and I have put together some electronics. The first thing I'd do, is inspect a component that I know is in the area, that might be loosely-mounted - which is exactly what I described the sound like, and exactly what I told them they should look for. I told them what I thought it was, a motor of some sort, that winds and probably rotates, as the car starts up - as best I could think from all the times working on cars and ac systems. They just didn't want to bother doing it. Probably, pragmatically, it would have been too difficult in their end to take apart the car enough to "try" to find the sound. But the problem was more in the fact that they didn't want to do ANYTHING at all. I had to practically beg to have them do an in - car diagnostic.
I don't think that's acceptable at all.

About the spoiler, it's only been about a week and a half. I know for a fact that it wouldn't be that difficult to take off without damaging the paint - I did it myself for my last Model 3. The only way it might be riskier is if they used VHB, and it was a brand new spoiler, which does not have VHB. I told my girlfriend I would have just bought one off ebay and installed it myself, like with my last Model 3-but she insisted on paying for it so I wouldn't go through the hassle.

That's what I get for trusting, huh?

I had to have tesla put on 4 different spoilers on my model 3P before one fit properly without pulling off some. My model 3 is a 2018 model year, and it came with the spoiler as one of the features, but at that time tesla didnt have the spoiler actually even made yet (lol).

When they finally released it, and I got my appointment to get it put on, the right edge lifted off some after a couple weeks. As I mentioned I had to go back 4 separate times before I got one that fit, and at least a couple of those times the service tech told me "shrug they are all like that", and sort of made me feel bad for repeatedly bringing it back.

I finally talked to the SC manager, and they said it was both the spoilers and the cars that were not "exact" so they had been having issues with them and escalated back to tesla ( this was 2019).

Like I said, I finally got one that fit properly but it was difficult. The rattle I understand them not wanting to diagnose if they couldnt hear it vs the spoiler.

 

[RonKorakas]

My experience at the BMW dealer in Austin has been the worst. Sold my BMWs as a result of dealing with them. I hear they are under new ownership now... but too late.

Some of the folks at Teala Austin are good. Some are terrible, or even worse than terrible. Have not yet tried the new south location. Luckily I haven't had any problems recently. Did think it was cool that I asked about tire prices and they came back with "we can order a patch kit and check it out - looks like your front right tire has been low recently".

Really? At McNeil or at South?
McNeil has always been good to me. We actually bought a brand new X7 from the South (Hendricks) and chose to not go back and use McNeil (Penske) after a while. We had a huge debacle over a windshield replacement. It was a mess.

There's a South Tesla location?
I thought Austin only had 1 location, on Research blvd?

 

[RonKorakas]

I had to have tesla put on 4 different spoilers on my model 3P before one fit properly without pulling off some. My model 3 is a 2018 model year, and it came with the spoiler as one of the features, but at that time tesla didnt have the spoiler actually even made yet (lol).

When they finally released it, and I got my appointment to get it put on, the right edge lifted off some after a couple weeks. As I mentioned I had to go back 4 separate times before I got one that fit, and at least a couple of those times the service tech told me "shrug they are all like that", and sort of made me feel bad for repeatedly bringing it back.

I finally talked to the SC manager, and they said it was both the spoilers and the cars that were not "exact" so they had been having issues with them and escalated back to tesla ( this was 2019).

Like I said, I finally got one that fit properly but it was difficult. The rattle I understand them not wanting to diagnose if they couldnt hear it vs the spoiler.

Argh, I bought my 2019 in Late July, and I heard about those problematic spoilers, so I deliberately got the "refresh" model on ebay. It fit "well enough". Not exactly flush with the body, but good enough that you'd have to look really close to see imperfections. But this one.. You definitely can tell, especially if you know what you're looking at.

About the rattle, I understand too. However, I would have at least done a remote diag, or even had a rep come out to the car, turn the AC on, and shrug. They LITERALLY wanted to do nothing AT ALL. They said "try to get it on video". I said "are you kidding?you're asking me to vote a 30 second video EVERY TIME I get in my car, to see if i 'catch it'? Think about that for a second." All he had to say was "unless we can witness it, or you can record it, there's nothing we can do."
I dunno. It left a really sour taste in my mouth. Like, I had to prove I was telling the truth.

 

[MikeyC]

About the rattle, I understand too. However, I would have at least done a remote diag, or even had a rep come out to the car, turn the AC on, and shrug.

^ This. They could have at least asked you questions like "Is it related to certain temperatures or conditions", run a diag, and at least try to get some info. Everyone knows by now that Tesla customer service is bad in many cases. As mentioned, the problem is they have no motivation to improve when people are still buying them at any price faster than they can make them. So I don't know how to solve this one. I've been turned away before by legacy dealers because the car wasn't exhibiting the problem at the dealer. Fine. But they usually spend 30 minutes making an effort.

Mike

 

[brkaus]

Really? At McNeil or at South?

McNeil. It was around the time of the Penske transition. Some things during repairs on my M3 that just really irritated me. I do miss the car, but my driving it ate up the tires!

 

[outdoors]

I drive past a service center (Clarkston MI) to Toledo, Ohio because the service is super and investigative for issues.

Dismissive service center employees don't belong in the service industry. It is hard I get it, but as employees of Tesla, they are the last line of defense between a current Tesla owner staying with a brand or leaving the brand.

Consumers are fickle. Like me. I will adjust as I in the future will care less about the supercharger network because my life doesn't need to travel any longer. I also am a little bent with Tesla on a here and there basis. I wish they would stop acting like their pile of roses doesn't stink. Just service the darn car in a timely manner.

 

[RipVanFinkle]

I just wish Teslas had the same quality Toyotas do.

 

[TomT]

I just wish Teslas had the same quality Toyotas do.

Yes, one thing you do NOT buy a Tesla for is build quality!

 

[Big Dog]

sorry, I agree with the SC wrt the rattle. If you and they cannot reproduce it, then they are wasting their time. How long do you expect them to drive around hoping the rattle might occur? 15 minutes? one hour?

Perhaps when you find a rough(?) road where you hear the rattle, why not record it on your phone so you can play it back for them? Or, while driving around, have a passenger start pressing on different sections of the console to see if the rattle goes away. (That way you have pinpointed teh area and can direct the Tech; it might just be a loose screw.)

OTOH, not adjusting the spoiler is bad customer service.

 

[RonKorakas]

sorry, I agree with the SC wrt the rattle. If you and they cannot reproduce it, then they are wasting their time. How long do you expect them to drive around hoping the rattle might occur? 15 minutes? one hour?

Perhaps when you find a rough(?) road where you hear the rattle, why not record it on your phone so you can play it back for them? Or, while driving around, have a passenger start pressing on different sections of the console to see if the rattle goes away. (That way you have pinpointed teh area and can direct the Tech; it might just be a loose screw.)

OTOH, not adjusting the spoiler is bad customer service.

Ironically, I don't DISAGREE with them about why not take the car apart for a sound that they themselves cannot hear.

What I AM disagreeing with is with not looking into the problem at all. Maybe this was one of those situations where you had to be there. I show up, for my appointment. I live about 20 miles away, so I have to plan for it. And I was at the counter for no more than 45 seconds before they said there's nothing they can do, and told me to go home. They wouldn't do a diagnosis, they wouldn't have anyone come out and see if they can reproduce it themselves by making a combination of AC adjustments - NOTHING.
I explained to them that it made the vibration when you get in the car from not having driven the car (so in the "proximity activation"). They could have walked in and off the car a couple of times. None of the things I expected them to do take more than 10 minutes to check. It's just a very non-customer service oriented approach at trying to diagnose or check for a problem.

Imagine in any other situation, you just take the customer's word, and check anyways, to be "safe than sorry". At a restaurant, at a grocery store.

This time, regardless of whether I had told them that I experienced the vibration, twice, they didn't care because it wasn't present and apparent at the time of service. So, in essence, it didn't matter AT ALL that it happened to me. That's not right.

I understand if this was a cosmetic rattle - maybe you're misunderstanding - but it wasn't. This was an electronic vibration from a component that was either "stuck", or "unbalanced" in the mounting. Imagine if you took a massaging gun and put it against your fridge - that's what it sounded like. The car wasn't moving. It was an "activation" type of vibration, from a component coming on.

 

[jjrandorin]

Imagine in any other situation, you just take the customer's word, and check anyways, to be "safe than sorry". At a restaurant, at a grocery store.

This is what should have happened, for sure. As someone who has worked their entire career in either performing or managing people who perform customer service (IT, not the auto industry), its definitely bad form to dismiss someone like that.

There should have at least been some sort of effort (something) or some direct questions to you about under what circumstances you hear it, are you doing anything specific, at what speeds, etc etc. I understand "we cant reproduce it," as I said, but there is a way to deliver that message so the customer doesnt feel marginalized, and they obviously failed big time here on that.

 

[RonKorakas]

This is what should have happened, for sure. As someone who has worked their entire career in either performing or managing people who perform customer service (IT, not the auto industry), its definitely bad form to dismiss someone like that.

There should have at least been some sort of effort (something) or some direct questions to you about under what circumstances you hear it, are you doing anything specific, at what speeds, etc etc. I understand "we cant reproduce it," as I said, but there is a way to deliver that message so the customer doesnt feel marginalized, and they obviously failed big time here on that.

For sure. What bugs me the most is that as I said, I'm not ignorant when it comes to mechanical /electrical /electronic things. So I did my very best to describe the problem in ways that would very easily lead them to a conclusion based on THEIR knowledge of the car. The fact that THAT didn't matter to them at all was what bugged the crap out of me. It felt at if they were about to tell me "it's all in your head". It wasn't a discussion, it wasn't a conversation. It was a "we know what we're talking about, WE know there's nothing wrong with your car because my laptop tells me so. We don't care what you heard."

It felt very condescending and dismissive.

If it was my service center, my response would have been "well let's try to figure out where it could have come from", and proceeded to ask detailed questions about the circumstances. They didn't even do that. All they were concerned with was "is it doing it right now?" and "are you able to reproduce it."

Again, I see and understand their reasoning, but I'm not their friend. I'm not their buddy. I'm a customer who just spent a large amount on a car that is brand new, and I don't expect any abnormal sounds coming from said car. They should have at least tried to investigate, even for a couple of minutes what could have happened and what it is I heard. But that was not their intention at all.

 

[nebusoft]

I assume it only rattles when driving? Were they able to drive around with you? I suppose they might require a recording before they're willing to do that. Was this the new south SC or was this the northern one?

 

[Big Dog]

Ironically, I don't DISAGREE with them about why not take the car apart for a sound that they themselves cannot hear.

What I AM disagreeing with is with not looking into the problem at all. Maybe this was one of those situations where you had to be there. I show up, for my appointment. I live about 20 miles away, so I have to plan for it. And I was at the counter for no more than 45 seconds before they said there's nothing they can do, and told me to go home. They wouldn't do a diagnosis, they wouldn't have anyone come out and see if they can reproduce it themselves by making a combination of AC adjustments - NOTHING.
I explained to them that it made the vibration when you get in the car from not having driven the car (so in the "proximity activation"). They could have walked in and off the car a couple of times. None of the things I expected them to do take more than 10 minutes to check. It's just a very non-customer service oriented approach at trying to diagnose or check for a problem.

Imagine in any other situation, you just take the customer's word, and check anyways, to be "safe than sorry". At a restaurant, at a grocery store.

This time, regardless of whether I had told them that I experienced the vibration, twice, they didn't care because it wasn't present and apparent at the time of service. So, in essence, it didn't matter AT ALL that it happened to me. That's not right.

I understand if this was a cosmetic rattle - maybe you're misunderstanding - but it wasn't. This was an electronic vibration from a component that was either "stuck", or "unbalanced" in the mounting. Imagine if you took a massaging gun and put it against your fridge - that's what it sounded like. The car wasn't moving. It was an "activation" type of vibration, from a component coming on.

There is no question that Tesla customer service is not good (and that's being charitable).

But note, you drive the car to a SC adn tell them it makes a noise/vibration/buzzing when you enter the car after it has not been driven for awhile. Here's the problem, you just drove the car so it HAS been driven in awhile. Based on your description, the only thing that they could have done is kept the car overnight and try to enter it in the morning.

Why not make an appointment for the Mobile to come out so they can check the car after its been sitting "for awhile" (however defined)? And definitely record it on your phone.

btw: my Model 3 makes all kinds of noises sitting just sitting in the garage, including fans going on, and fans going off. Battery cooling system kicks in whenever it wants.

 

[Z_Lynx]

Seems like they need an immersive diagnostic sound room where you can weed through identified sounds to build a mugshot of the offender.

A room with a comfy chair and relaxing beverages.