Can't Order of the Web Site!

[gnuarm]

I have bought accessories off the Tesla web site for my model X with no problem. But it seems when you want to buy an upgrade for the car they make it a bit tougher... actually nearly impossible.

I wanted to buy the full self driving upgrade for my model X at the reduced price. I tried to order from the web site using a credit card, but it never asked for the billing address for the card. Since the car is not registered to that same address, the purchase was declined. I repeated the process thinking there was something I must have missed, but no, there is no way to enter a billing address for the credit card no matter how you try to do it. I even tried to "add" the credit card to my account but it still would not allow me to specify a different billing address.

I sent support an email which was pointless. I may have received replies from email contacts, but they have never been timely and usually have nothing useful to say. I contacted support by phone by calling the number listed in the car display. Seems that's not really "customer support" and while very nice and wanting to help, the tried to transfer me but said the wait was very long and I could have them call me back. I was on a long drive and after a couple of hours I didn't get a call. Eventually I called back and waited in the queue. After an hour or so I reached someone who was helpful, but not enough to make the purchase happen.

In the end I had to go to the credit card company web site and change my address there, make the purchase and change it back.

So how many are going to deal with this sort of nonsense when buying something over the Internet? Twenty years ago Internet had this sort of problem with online purchases because they didn't separate the billing address from the delivery address on purchases. The Internet and credit card companies quickly caught on. What's taking Tesla so long to figure it out?

 

[ChadS]

The FSD purchase for my wife's X went through, but I noted a similar problem. I moved a couple of months ago, and even though I changed my home address in my Tesla account two months BEFORE I moved, Tesla still apparently has my old address for my credit card and car registration. The move was recent enough that the credit card company seemed to accept it...but I got charged the higher sales tax of the old address. It will be a real bummer when the credit card company stops taking the old address.

Changing the address in your Tesla account also doesn't change the address that months-old referral program prizes are sent to. I tried getting that changed through referral support, and because of a boring technicality with my email account, I ended up getting the world's least-helpful support person tell me that if I didn't get the referral prize, it was "on me". (Fortunately my local OA made a call and had it changed within minutes. Funny, the referral support guy told me that wasn't possible).

 

[gnuarm]

The FSD purchase for my wife's X went through, but I noted a similar problem. I moved a couple of months ago, and even though I changed my home address in my Tesla account two months BEFORE I moved, Tesla still apparently has my old address for my credit card and car registration. The move was recent enough that the credit card company seemed to accept it...but I got charged the higher sales tax of the old address. It will be a real bummer when the credit card company stops taking the old address.

Don't feel bad about the sales tax. I think they charged that to California not your state. Tesla has no presence in SC and I got charged an 8% sales tax. Even if they did charge SC sales tax it is 6% and an optional 1% added by the county, still not 8%. Then again, CA tax is 7.25%. So why was I billed $160 on a $2000 purchase?

Changing the address in your Tesla account also doesn't change the address that months-old referral program prizes are sent to. I tried getting that changed through referral support, and because of a boring technicality with my email account, I ended up getting the world's least-helpful support person tell me that if I didn't get the referral prize, it was "on me". (Fortunately my local OA made a call and had it changed within minutes. Funny, the referral support guy told me that wasn't possible).

What's an OA? I remember a very interesting show called "The OA". I see they are going to have a second season.

 

[ChadS]

I was charged 10.3% sales tax, which is the rate at my previous house (and where the cars were initially registered). My current house is in an area with 8.6% sales tax.

OA is probably an obsolete term; it was "owner advisor". Those were, essentially, the employees in the stores that did sales.

 

[jkoya]

I was charged 10.3% sales tax, which is the rate at my previous house

Wow - can I ask what city/state this was ?

 

[ChadS]

Issaquah, WA. There is no income tax in Washington, so state sales tax is 6.5%, and local taxes in the major metro areas tends to push the total rate to 10% and higher.