Charging fees during service UK

[Lewberry6]

Just had my car in for some delivery defect fixes. At the end of the service appointment the app notified me the car was ready for pickup and then that it had been plugged into a supercharger at the Drayton service centre. I then had notification it was charged and there could be idle fees.

I picked up the car and thought nothing of it until I see a charging fee charged to my card. Looking at the invoice I have indeed been charged for the service centre plugging my car into a supercharger and would have been charged £63 in idle fees however this has been waived due to being the first idle fees I have incurred.

is this normal? I didn’t ask for a supercharger and had enough charge to get home and charge for “free”

little off to have to pay for it and now would have been £70 if not for being the first time inccuring idle fees and now lost my initial fee waiver.

Is this an error and should this have been charged to Tesla or is this standard practice? I would have thought they would have at least asked and then unplugged it when charged if so.

Thanks

 

[BMW740iL]

Just had my car in for some delivery defect fixes. At the end of the service appointment the app notified me the car was ready for pickup and then that it had been plugged into a supercharger at the Drayton service centre. I then had notification it was charged and there could be idle fees.

I picked up the car and thought nothing of it until I see a charging fee charged to my card. Looking at the invoice I have indeed been charged for the service centre plugging my car into a supercharger and would have been charged £63 in idle fees however this has been waived due to being the first idle fees I have incurred.

is this normal? I didn’t ask for a supercharger and had enough charge to get home and charge for “free”

little off to have to pay for it and now would have been £70 if not for being the first time inccuring idle fees and now lost my initial fee waiver.

Is this an error and should this have been charged to Tesla or is this standard practice? I would have thought they would have at least asked and then unplugged it when charged if so.

Thanks

Welcome to Tesla. Hope you enjoy the ride!

 

[Lewberry6]

Welcome to Tesla. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Lol.

I mean the service experience for me was great a(contrary to some people’s experience). Just can’t believe that if it went in again and this happened they would expect me to pay £70? Not too fussed about £7 for the charge. Don’t think they should charge you for it but at least you can use the charge. Just the principle seems a little off. Imagine a typical garage filling your car up with petrol after an MOT without even asking and then also charging you a premium rate for it.

 

[Gasaraki]

Lol.

I mean the service experience for me was great a(contrary to some people’s experience). Just can’t believe that if it went in again and this happened they would expect me to pay £70? Not too fussed about £7 for the charge. Don’t think they should charge you for it but at least you can use the charge. Just the principle seems a little off. Imagine a typical garage filling your car up with petrol after an MOT without even asking and then also charging you a premium rate for it.

Agreed. It's like double slapping you. Get you to pay for service and at the same time, we'll leave the car plugged in and then charge you some more. Let's make more money.

 

[Morhydro]

That is definately off......Has the car done less than 1,000 miles? Tell Tesla that unless they correct the charge including the idle fee initial pardon, you are going to give them the car back!

 

[holmgang]

My local service center has a rate sheet for getting it charged up to 50, 100%, etc.

I've never dropped it off close to empty, so I've never had it charged there, with or without consent

 

[Lewberry6]

That is definately off......Has the car done less than 1,000 miles? Tell Tesla that unless they correct the charge including the idle fee initial pardon, you are going to give them the car back!

Yes it has. Was going to give them a ring and find out the details. Even if they don’t refund anything I think they should at least be made aware that customers have an issue with this and they certainly should be unplugging them once charged.

They were also perfectly responsive to text messages and updated me during the service. Would have been quite easy when telling me it was ready to ask if I wanted it charged and if so it would be at a few.

 

[Lewberry6]

My local service center has a rate sheet for getting it charged up to 50, 100%, etc.

I've never dropped it off close to empty, so I've never had it charged there, with or without consent

I understand that it is not totally unreasonable if it needs charging to charge a small fee. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to return it charged but I wouldn’t expect it as you wouldn’t with any other vehicle service. Just think it’s a little off to plug it in, have it charge your account and then leave it there to rack up idle fees. Then you pick it up, they mention nothing and it’s automatically billed to your account....

 

[Lewberry6]

So thinking about this a little further. I never signed or agreed to any forms for the service so have not agreed to pay for any charging, simply I’ve agreed with them for the work to be carried out that I reported and nothing more. If there was additional terms and conditions regarding charge state they should have stated/ made me sign it.

By plugging it in themselves I would presume they have therefore used my payment card on my account without authorisation. I did not need a charge, the car had 70 miles range left and they didn’t ask if I wanted one.

The fact of the matter is quite trivial in that I’ve paid £7 for a full charge but I think the whole principle of this is not an acceptable practice if this is a regular occurrence. If it is not they should apologise and refund the charge.

I will ring them up an hopefully get an explanation and give an update what they say.

 

[smatthew]

I believe in the US service centers have their own private superchargers, and if they use them you don't get charged.

 

[holmgang]

I understand that it is not totally unreasonable if it needs charging to charge a small fee. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to return it charged but I wouldn’t expect it as you wouldn’t with any other vehicle service. Just think it’s a little off to plug it in, have it charge your account and then leave it there to rack up idle fees. Then you pick it up, they mention nothing and it’s automatically billed to your account....

If that was your case, I'd be pissed. You did not consent, and the real cost incurred to them is virtually nothing.

 

[holmgang]

I believe in the US service centers have their own private superchargers, and if they use them you don't get charged.

Some service centers in Europe have their own SC that they, so far, intentionally open to the public. There's no charge associated with them. They're not listed on the NAV but are known to local owners and marked up on Google maps

 

[RayK]

I believe in the US service centers have their own private superchargers, and if they use them you don't get charged.

I would hope that this would be the case - I have yet to have my car spend time in the shop without me being there. Having a service center plug you into a charger that has the possibility of costing you real money, especially without first being asked if this is okay and also not appearing as a line item on the service estimate, sounds like a customer relations nightmare in the making.

 

[Lewberry6]

I believe in the US service centers have their own private superchargers, and if they use them you don't get charged.

That is the kind of service I would expect.

 

[Lewberry6]

I would hope that this would be the case - I have yet to have my car spend time in the shop without me being there. Having a service center plug you into a charger that has the possibility of costing you real money, especially without first being asked if this is okay and also not appearing as a line item on the service estimate, sounds like a customer relations nightmare in the making.

Yup. Service was free due to be all warranty issue. Nothing on there. Just the invoice direct to my account and the bill to my card.

 

[Lewberry6]

So I gave them a call.

Apparently it is standard for the car to be returned fully charged however this should be complimentary.

To be honest neither the two people I spoke to apologised or seemed at all that concerned that I had been billed potentially £70. However service said I had to contact sales who then said they had to email service who normally deals with this. This to me sounds like it’s a pretty routine phone call which is a little concerning. Makes you wonder how many people they get away with charging extra fees...

But long story short. The car should be returned charged as a complementary part of the service. If not ring and they should refund this. As for the idle fees I guess I have lost my initial fee wavier.