Customer Service [bad service center experience]

[EmOne]

No other brand I have owned will make an appointment for a scheduled checkup and take 2 days to do it. That's the point of an appointment. The excuses some come up with will never put pressure on Tesla to make improvements. The service is actually recommend when 2018 was purchased. Just changing it in the embedded manual doesn't change that fact.

Maybe it doesn't change the original rec, but it does change what you should do! The only things to do have already been mentioned and are trivial, but I personally would have the brake fluid changed (but NOT by Tesla; I never have had done by the dealer except for my BMW M cars when it was included with purchase price...)

 

[LeffeP]

I dont have anything nice to say on how the support is getting worse and worse. When i had my 2014 Model S it was great, not anymore...

 

[vickh]

No other brand I have owned will make an appointment for a scheduled checkup and take 2 days to do it. That's the point of an appointment. The excuses some come up with will never put pressure on Tesla to make improvements. The service is actually recommend when 2018 was purchased. Just changing it in the embedded manual doesn't change that fact.

Isn't the new recommendation to not do prev. maintenance @ the SC? Perhaps TSLA put that in when SC got swamped with "treatment" volume?

 

[Mobster]

i would have been more surprised to find a post 'tesla service good' anymore.

Exactly. My first Tesla 2013 MS....incredible great service experience.

Fast forward to 2nd MS p100d....worst experience of any car owned. Last Thursday in for service: 1. "Use the app" --- not allowed to talk to anyone about my $150,000 car. EXCEPT ....when THEY want something from ME (THEY want ME to fill in a next day cancellation for them with my appointment in the future)...they call me and expect to talk to a human! I hate the app. When at the service center I am told to use the app to access the invoice. It does not work. The ONE GUY they have out front running around like a chicken says he will print one up. Meanwhile, I cut my hand on a jagged edge counter side that stuck out. Bleeding on the ground while I wait. 2. The service center is a mess. Not kept up at all. Maybe they really expect the "stay in your car with your mouth shut" policy will actually work. One guy out front working very hard to try and corral all the check-ins and check-outs. Not succeeding.

I really get a pit in my stomach when facing the possibility of using Tesla service. Worse than anticipating the dentist. HE answers the phone even on weekends. I have resorted to asking HIM Tesla service questions.

 

[vickh]

Exactly. My first Tesla 2013 MS....incredible great service experience.

Fast forward to 2nd MS p100d....worst experience of any car owned. Last Thursday in for service: 1. "Use the app" --- not allowed to talk to anyone about my $150,000 car. EXCEPT ....when THEY want something from ME (THEY want ME to fill in a next day cancellation for them with my appointment in the future)...they call me and expect to talk to a human! I hate the app. When at the service center I am told to use the app to access the invoice. It does not work. The ONE GUY they have out front running around like a chicken says he will print one up. Meanwhile, I cut my hand on a jagged edge counter side that stuck out. Bleeding on the ground while I wait. 2. The service center is a mess. Not kept up at all. Maybe they really expect the "stay in your car with your mouth shut" policy will actually work. One guy out front working very hard to try and corral all the check-ins and check-outs. Not succeeding.

I really get a pit in my stomach when facing the possibility of using Tesla service. Worse than anticipating the dentist. HE answers the phone even on weekends. I have resorted to asking HIM Tesla service questions.

having to answer the phone even on weekends was one of the reasons I stopped seeing patients. Wish we had apps back then

 

[Bpl4328]

I’m still waiting on my Tesla to be delivered. I can’t even get the service rep to call me back, as she promised a loaner tesla for the evening prior to mine arriving. It’s a thing they do at the Tysons Corner store in Virginia, not sure if the other stores do it as well. Anyways after reading many many comments on this website I don’t even want my Tesla anymore. I’m seriously considering canceling my order and just losing the $100. This is so disappointing.

 

[dmurphy]

I’m still waiting on my Tesla to be delivered. I can’t even get the service rep to call me back, as she promised a loaner tesla for the evening prior to mine arriving. It’s a thing they do at the Tysons Corner store in Virginia, not sure if the other stores do it as well. Anyways after reading many many comments on this website I don’t even want my Tesla anymore. I’m seriously considering canceling my order and just losing the $100. This is so disappointing.

So nothing at all’s gone wrong and you’re already disappointed? I’d hate to see you miss out on an amazing car because of perception of others, but do what’s best for your own well being. Best of luck.

 

[Phlier]

I’m still waiting on my Tesla to be delivered. I can’t even get the service rep to call me back, as she promised a loaner tesla for the evening prior to mine arriving. It’s a thing they do at the Tysons Corner store in Virginia, not sure if the other stores do it as well. Anyways after reading many many comments on this website I don’t even want my Tesla anymore. I’m seriously considering canceling my order and just losing the $100. This is so disappointing.

My purchase experience was horrible. Awful. Really bad.

But the car has been so good that I don't care. The purchasing experience was a bad dream that lasted for a few weeks. The car has been a dream come true for coming up on two years (and counting).

I love the car so much that I won't even care about getting bad customer service should the thing actually end up needing it some day.

Sure, it would be nice to have good customer service, but I've enjoyed the product so much that I just don't care about the CS side of it.

But, your priorities are your priorities. If the short period of time that is the purchasing experience is just going to ruin the years of ownership experience, you should definitely cancel.

 

[eisenb11]

This is something that Tesla really needs to fix - especially since they keep trying to target the lux/mid-lux market segments.

They need to work to change the all too common “I love my Tesla, but...” to “I love my Tesla.”

 

[Forty_Two]

M3LR ordered October 2021 (waiting). . . . . . . . The car may be (?) a great build with the latest and greatest technology, I wait to see. The Customer Service is appalling. I am spending over £50k on this car and I am getting better Customer Service on the purchase of my £20 toaster. I have bought every car new for the past 40 years and I have never experienced CS that comes near to this bad. . . . . . 40 minutes (if you’re lucky) wait for the telephone to be answered and then to be told, “I don’t your place in the queue and I don’t know when you will get to the front of the queue but my best guess is mid to late March but could be April” – that’s BAD. All that and try and get past those guys at the end of the 40 minute wait call, try and make a complaint – do ahead try it . . . . Tesla make it so difficult it’s next to impossible.

 

[Forty_Two]

Post Title should have read 'Appalling Customer Services' . . . . but from Tesla's perspective it may be right!

 

[Nozferat]

There’s your problem. You brought it in for a 2 year check up? Why?

All they are going to do is sell you some overpriced wiper blades and fluid.

Aren't you supposed to change out the brake fluid every two years? That's the standard for pretty much all cars...EV or not.

 

[Nozferat]

They offered this OP uber credits (its in their post).

Basically, they took the car in for non mandatory service (nothing broken, but a "checkup"), and did not attempt to verify before said appointment date / time that there would be loaner cars available, then was surprised and disappointed when there were no loaner cars available.

No brand "guarantees" loaner vehicles. They are normally provided depending on availability. If one requires a loaner car, then, especially if taking the car in for service that is not impacting the ability to use the vehicle, one should contact the service center and find out what is the process for ensuring they can get a loaner.

That might be scheduling your appointment at a specific date / time, like first thing in the morning on a monday, or it might be something else. I have been driving BMWs for roughly 15 years (new ones, leased every 3 years) and there are times I cant get a loaner from them either because they were out. BMW certainly doesnt offer anything else (like uber credits) if they dont have loaners.

Anyway, I certainly cant tell someone how to feel (and am not trying to) but I do find it somewhat amusing how some people that buy teslas act like they bought rolls royces or something.

I have both cars actually like you do. The BMW service is hands down better than Tesla and the cost of the cars are equivalent and in some cases less for BMWs. My case in point is my i3s I got for $22k used and still get brand new level car service when I take it in for a checkup, service, etc. I also have had times when they don't give me a BMW loaner but they do give me a rental car courtesy of them no questions asked. Most times I've taken the car in to my service center, they automatically give me a loaner or rental car if a loaner isn't available. The other choice is for me to schedule the service at a time when a loaner is available...which usually is a couple of weeks further out.

But make no mistake, the type of people who work at BMW (both tech and customer service) are light years ahead of Tesla. Not even in the same boat. I feel like I'm at an Apple store when visiting a showroom or Tesla service center. I feel like I'm at an automotive center when I visit a BMW center. That's the difference.

 

[Nozferat]

My purchase experience was horrible. Awful. Really bad.

But the car has been so good that I don't care. The purchasing experience was a bad dream that lasted for a few weeks. The car has been a dream come true for coming up on two years (and counting).

I love the car so much that I won't even care about getting bad customer service should the thing actually end up needing it some day.

Sure, it would be nice to have good customer service, but I've enjoyed the product so much that I just don't care about the CS side of it.

But, your priorities are your priorities. If the short period of time that is the purchasing experience is just going to ruin the years of ownership experience, you should definitely cancel.

Here lies the problem...you can't forgive the biggest aspect of ownership experience just because you don't care anymore due to the driving experience. That experience is great...until it isn't.

 

[Nozferat]

I think two things are going on here.

One, like @Apone said, Tesla wants the car to sell itself, so they haven’t focused on really building out the support around it. The cars are obviously amazing, so it mostly works...for now.

The other thing is that Tesla is oddly positioned. They’re not just a car manufacturer. They’re also a tech company. So while their service dept might be comparable to say, BMW...we’re also comparing them to, say, Apple.

Clearly, there are a lot of Apple fanboys in the world (I’m likely one of them). That’s not because iPhones are that much better than a Galaxy, or Note or a Pixel. Its not because AirPods sound amazing. It’s because of everything that Apple has built around their products. The ecosystem. The support. The seamless buying experience. It’s cliche, but everything really does just work. And when something breaks, there are solid processes in place to remediate the situation to the customers satisfaction.

That’s not Tesla right now. Again, the cars are amazing, but the buying experience, getting service, getting online support, it’s kind of janky TBH. People don’t really love Tesla. People love their Teslas. But what happens when Teslas aren’t as comparatively amazing? What happens in five years when say, Apple releases a semi-autonomous EV and surrounds it with world-class support and a robust ecosystem?

I think this is what we’re seeing. Tesla is consistently missing out on easy opportunities to solidifying it’s customer loyalty.

Um...you need to watch Louis Rossman more to get an idea of how bad Apple really is.

 

[dmurphy]

Um...you need to watch Louis Rossman more to get an idea of how bad Apple really is.

I don't know who that is, and frankly, don't care. Apple has always taken good care of me whenever I needed anything. And that's all that matters.

Now, back to Tesla ...

I don't know what happens out there at many of these SCs, but I've really, truly had nothing but good service from our local SCs. The biggest challenge lately has been getting an appointment, but that's because one was out of commission since their roof collapsed in a hurricane. And even then, when I had a quasi-urgent issue (leaky 4-way valve on Model X) - they got me in to a service center within 2 days, sent me home with a loaner S, and had the problem fixed the next morning.

Not sure what there is to complain about that, but it's been nothing but goodness here.

Send the rest of the service center managers here to Jersey, we'll show them how it's done .... or else.

 

[Nozferat]

I am really hesitant to corroborate this and other stories I've read, but I brought my new 21 M3P in after purchase to address issues I felt a brand new car shouldn't have or for that matter anything you buy brand new. I could go into the details, but this is the first time I've felt bullied into accepting a product as 'that's just how it is' in my entire 40+ years on this planet.

fwiw, I'm not talking about panel gaps or paint problems, I'm talking about how parts of the car function or in this case don't.

I don't know who that is, and frankly, don't care. Apple has always taken good care of me whenever I needed anything. And that's all that matters.

Now, back to Tesla ...

I don't know what happens out there at many of these SCs, but I've really, truly had nothing but good service from our local SCs. The biggest challenge lately has been getting an appointment, but that's because one was out of commission since their roof collapsed in a hurricane. And even then, when I had a quasi-urgent issue (leaky 4-way valve on Model X) - they got me in to a service center within 2 days, sent me home with a loaner S, and had the problem fixed the next morning.

Not sure what there is to complain about that, but it's been nothing but goodness here.

Send the rest of the service center managers here to Jersey, we'll show them how it's done .... or else.

SMH. You should care. This is precisely why they get away with what they do. I, for one, am the type to support my fellow comrades out there even if I happened to get good treatment.

 

[dmurphy]

SMH. You should care. This is precisely why they get away with what they do. I, for one, am the type to support my fellow comrades out there even if I happened to get good treatment.

Some nitwit buying a GoPro does NOT make them my comrade.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I dislike YouTube. Any knucklehead with a camera is all of a sudden important? I don’t think so …….

 

[Nozferat]

Some nitwit buying a GoPro does NOT make them my comrade.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I dislike YouTube. Any knucklehead with a camera is all of a sudden important? I don’t think so …….

What are you talking about? I don't think you're even talking about the same thing.

 

[dmurphy]

What are you talking about? I don't think you're even talking about the same thing.

You told me I’m supposed to watch some YouTube talking head. I’m not interested.