Cheesy Tesla Sales Call - to "make sure I'm on the right electric rate plan"

[smartypnz]

2013 - Solar City installed our system right before we took delivery of our Model S. At the time, battery back up was just beginning - asked to be put on the list of interested. Crickets... Checked two years later- told they would have a specialist (salesperson) call us. Crickets...
Saw display at Service Center - asked for info - will have someone call - Crickets....
Rinse, repeat. Crickets....

So, over 5 years now and still no contact.

Live in area with extended outages - can’t use solar during that time - so batteries as a backup would help. Not worried so much for charging our now 2 EV’s, but for home power.

Bottom line - as we watched Solar City and their problems before Tesla took over, they must be doing fine to totally ignore prospective customers.

Hard to believe they are making cold sales calls.

 

[rdlink]

The prime reason is they were under attack by the FUD spinning short machine. The way they were structured was their business model basically made them a bank lender that based their consumer loans around solar panels. The business itself was fairly meh, marginal. However that sort of business is fairly portrayable as "normal business in terminal levels of debt". Sure digging into the fundamentals with a lot of concentrated effort a competent person can see past that but the fact of the matter is that in the face of an enormous, unrelenting wall of lies a disturbingly large slice of investors and the financial world "ain't got time for that".

It's the same thing that happened with Fairfax a decade or so back. Targeted by mostly the same group of people and entities. Industrial scale rumourmongering to make a living off the damage you do to other people's legit business, hell of a line of work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This X10

 

[rdlink]

I'm not a phone IT tech, but I suspect that they cannot do this with the present telephone protocols. They would need to change the way the whole phone system works. The phone system, like the email system, was designed at a time when nobody had thought that anybody would be spoofing the "from" address/number.

Virtually every phone company buys their Caller ID database from a third party. As someone who ran telecom IT at a medium sized company for years you would not believe the effort it took to get AT&T to fix an outdated Caller ID record.

 

[mspohr]

Virtually every phone company buys their Caller ID database from a third party. As someone who ran telecom IT at a medium sized company for years you would not believe the effort it took to get AT&T to fix an outdated Caller ID record.

Yes, it's too much work for them to properly verify phone numbers. We all suffer from their laziness.

 

[Singuy]

Even with only 20 mins to get your car delivered, they will make sure to get the power guy to talk to you during delivery.

I understand though, hell of a lot of competition when it comes to solar while nothing really competes with their cars currently. So it natural for them to be aggressive. I just wish they can link up some incentive for Tesla car buyers plus solar. Make it some kind of value meal and give a good package deal (ie. Free power wall). I have Tesla solar and the M3 and ended up with nothing, not even some free merchandise.

 

[daniel]

... As someone who ran telecom IT at a medium sized company for years you would not believe the effort it took to get AT&T to fix an outdated Caller ID record.

Oh, I'd believe anything bad you could say about AT&T. I remember when Ma Bell was THE telephone company. Their lack of concern and bad treatment of their customers was legendary and monumental. The only thing that's changed is that they no longer have the monopoly. Other than that, they're as bad as they ever were. It baffles me that they can get anyone to sign up for their service.

However, the caller ID record is moot if the caller can spoof the "from" number. I have not had a land-line phone for several years. My cell phone does not access a caller ID record. It gets the number that's calling me (or the number the caller is spoofing) and only shows me a name if that number is stored with a name on the phone itself. I.e., my own list of numbers & names.

 

[ℬête Noire]

It baffles me that they can get anyone to sign up for their service.

When the other options for local cell coverage and Internet connection are even worse....

 

[daniel]

When the other options for local cell coverage and Internet connection are even worse....

I've had nothing but good experience with Verizon for cell phone service since I got my first cell phone so many years ago. And I've had only good experience with the much-maligned Comcast. YMMV.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I've had nothing but good experience with Verizon for cell phone service since I got my first cell phone so many years ago. And I've had only good experience with the much-maligned Comcast. YMMV.

It does indeed vary. In my neighbourhood AT&T snuggles with the trees and my house's brick & metal coated wall boards defeat it thought most of the house. But Verizon coverage is far worse, and as depressing as the ancient AT&T DSL is it has far better reliability than the Charter/Comcast cable based Internet. I fairly regularly see "Is Internet out again?" messages on Nextdoor from those cable ISP customers.

Yay for the power of a competitive marketplace!? *sigh*

 

[rdlink]

Oh, I'd believe anything bad you could say about AT&T. I remember when Ma Bell was THE telephone company. Their lack of concern and bad treatment of their customers was legendary and monumental. The only thing that's changed is that they no longer have the monopoly. Other than that, they're as bad as they ever were. It baffles me that they can get anyone to sign up for their service.

However, the caller ID record is moot if the caller can spoof the "from" number. I have not had a land-line phone for several years. My cell phone does not access a caller ID record. It gets the number that's calling me (or the number the caller is spoofing) and only shows me a name if that number is stored with a name on the phone itself. I.e., my own list of numbers & names.

Actually, cell phones access Caller ID records. It's just that every cell carrier in the country provides crap data.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Actually, cell phones access Caller ID records. It's just that every cell carrier in the country provides crap data.

I regularly get spam calls to my cell that are spoofing local numbers but clearly aren't local calls. I have now started getting calls from random local people asking me why I called them, when I haven't. Seems my number is being used on a spoof list now, too.

 

[rdlink]

I regularly get spam calls to my cell that are spoofing local numbers but clearly aren't local calls. I have now started getting calls from random local people asking me why I called them, when I haven't. Seems my number is being used on a spoof list now, too.

The scammers have mixed results with me. I have had a bunch of scam calls and texts over my car being advertised for sale. Sometimes they will try to call me, and it shows up as coming from other countries. But then they'll let me a vm and ask me to call them at a "local" number.

 

[shrspeedblade]

I got a similar call shortly after I took delivery. Had a nice short chat with the rep about how my house is (sadly) not suitable for solar. Wished each other well (and they thanked me for being a customer). Went on my way.

I'd make a list of things in the world to be more bothered by, but I don't think the mods want this thread to have 10,000 posts.

 

[KarenRei]

If they try this with me, it'll be easy to make clear I'm not a customer. And no, not because of the tiny average insolation we get here in Iceland or because power is already cheap and clean:

1) I'm currently renting while I build a house
2) The house is an underground cave house, aka no roof

If they were to try for surface-mounted solar....

3) House is in a zone that gets hurricane-force winds every winter, and has been measured at up to Cat. 5 strength.

 

[daniel]

Actually, cell phones access Caller ID records. It's just that every cell carrier in the country provides crap data.

I was under the impression that you never get the name of the caller on a cell phone. Only the number. Except if your phone has a name for that number.

If they try this with me, it'll be easy to make clear I'm not a customer. And no, not because of the tiny average insolation we get here in Iceland or because power is already cheap and clean:

1) I'm currently renting while I build a house
2) The house is an underground cave house, aka no roof

If they were to try for surface-mounted solar....

3) House is in a zone that gets hurricane-force winds every winter, and has been measured at up to Cat. 5 strength.

I don't think you need to worry about Tesla calling you about solar panels. But Cat 5 strength winds? Every winter. Wow. I guess I won't be moving there. North Dakota (where I lived for about 30 years) gets a bucketload of wind, but never hurricane force, unless maybe in the very rare and very small tornadoes. I can see why you want to be in an underground cave house.

 

[rdlink]

I was under the impression that you never get the name of the caller on a cell phone. Only the number. Except if your phone has a name for that number.

Depends on the carrier. But most of them do go the lazy/cheap way on it.

 

[radiocycle]

I just received a call on my mobile from someone who works at the local Tesla showroom who said he wanted a copy of my most recent electric bill (among other things) to make sure I am on the correct rate plan. I knew he was selling something and asked if he was selling the battery wall, to which he said "no, those are sold out for at least 6 months".... he was a fast talker and moments after hanging up I received an automated email setting up a call with him or another sales advisor next week. When I googled the phone number SolarCity came up and I realized he was probably trying to sell me solar... which I ALREADY HAVE.

It was gross and I felt "below the brand." Tesla doesn't sell, they create demand and we come running.

Sharing as I didn't see any other threads on this and was curious what others thought of this.

Yup, I got the same call. They weren't all that interested in continuing to 'chat' with me once I told them that I already had panels on my roof... I didn't see that coming!

r

 

[radiocycle]

These poor guys are just doing their jobs... Tesla is known for the car company that won't have sales people hovering over your shoulders. But it's known that they are trying to push solar to existing clients (people who are taking/took delivery).

I don't think you should feel weird or below the brand due to this phone call. You could've always just said "I have solar, no thank you".

Yes, but why didn't they start the pitch out with, 'I'm calling today to see if you'd be interested in installing solar panels', instead of coming from '...to see if you're on the proper rate plan'? Kind of a sleazy technique, if you ask me...

 

[KarenRei]

I don't think you need to worry about Tesla calling you about solar panels. But Cat 5 strength winds? Every winter. Wow. I guess I won't be moving there. North Dakota (where I lived for about 30 years) gets a bucketload of wind, but never hurricane force, unless maybe in the very rare and very small tornadoes. I can see why you want to be in an underground cave house.

Hurricane force every winter, sometimes multiple times per winter. Had one year where the gusts got up to Cat 5 strength. Tossed a shipping crate on my land (full of tonnes of steel, timber, glass, etc) around like playtoy.

Yeah, it's pretty windy here. Just today my engineer was complaining about the standards he was going to have to engineer the windows for my house to, given the location

 

[daniel]

Is the whole country like that, or do you live in an unusually windy part? If your engineer was complaining, I assume he doesn't normally have to deal with those kinds of conditions.