Delivery Nightmare

[Slarty_B]

Hello All!

I've been a lurker for a while and I'd like to thank all of you for helping me actually pull the trigger on my Model 3 AWD.

I picked up my car Saturday but the process was truly terrible and its clear that Tesla still is not up to par with other auto manufacturers in regards to customer service.

I placed the order 2 days prior to delivery, and was notified that the car could be picked up at the Fremont Delivery Hub. I received no calls from a delivery specialist and when I called, I was directed to a full mailbox that disconnected me. Only though hounding emails was I able to actually get someone from Tesla to talk to me about my trade in, delivery time, and needed documents. I got all this 11:30pm the day before my delivery.

Saturday came and I was directed to wait in the parking lot for my delivery "specialist" to show up. I eventually got a call and I walked over to meet him. He informed me he was actually a software intern and had never even been in a model 3 before delivering to me.

He knew absolutely nothing about the car, but thankfully this forum and YouTube told me how most everything worked. He couldn't open the car, the trunk, didn't know it even had a glove box, and wasn't quite sure that the "extra" charging plug was for. I spent time showing him how to pair my phone to the car and setting everything up. Then he shook my hand to leave before we had actually signed any paperwork.

I asked him about registration, how transferring my trade in plates would work, and what else I needed to provide to Tesla. At that point, I didn't even show him my ID, I could have been anyone! He told me he needed me to sign a bunch of paperwork but I wasn't allowed to have a copy of any of it and that it would populate in my account later. I had to fight to get copies that day of everything in the transaction.

Then I asked him about my trade in and he said he wasn't told anything about that. He said I could take both cars home cause he didn't have any paperwork on that. Obviously that wasn't going to fly, so he called around and they sent another intern over with some trade in papers (all of which I had already filled out online) and they got in my old car and left.

It was pretty poorly handled and felt a lot like selling a car on Craigslist. Signing papers on the kid's back since we didn't even have a table was a nice touch.

I was particularly insulted that Tesla gave me the car with a 50 mile charge. It was just barely enough to get me home. They refused to hook it to one of the many open supercharges since they weren't allowed to give free charges.

We drove away from the Fremont factory pretty pissed off and disgusted how things went. I felt like a total afterthought to Tesla who was just in it to get rid of a car and they didn't care if you liked it or not.

After a few days with the car, I've calmed down. I only need to buy it once, but I get to drive it daily. The car is pretty spectacular in nearly every way. I just wish the delivery process could be more professional where I feel like a valued customer and not a mark.

Sorry for venting...happy to be here!

 

[Tdriver]

Don't think this is the way all deliveries go. I would have asked someone with experience to help me.

 

[jsgt3sla]

I received a delivery confirmation(via text) for a Mar 22 delivery. There has been no VIN assigned to me as yet. I have called 3 times, trying to get a hold of a delivery specialist. Each time after being on hold for 10min, I get directed to a full mailbox. Luckily, I don't need to trade in my current car. The experience thus far has been very poor. I am tired of trying to get a hold of someone in delivery. At this point, I am just going to wait and see if I get a call from someone.

 

[Slarty_B]

I received a delivery confirmation(via text) for a Mar 22 delivery. There has been no VIN assigned to me as yet. I have called 3 times, trying to get a hold of a delivery specialist. Each time after being on hold for 10min, I get directed to a full mailbox. Luckily, I don't need to trade in my current car. The experience thus far has been very poor. I am tired of trying to get a hold of someone in delivery. At this point, I am just going to wait and see if I get a call from someone.

I had basically the same thing happen. The only thing that seemed to get a call was an email to the generic Tesla customer service email at the bottom of their main page. I got a call back within an hour of complaining there.

 

[Slarty_B]

Don't think this is the way all deliveries go. I would have asked someone with experience to help me.

Yep we asked for help from the sales people at the sales office and they refused saying they weren't allowed to help in the delivery process. We also asked some of the other people getting deliveries at the same time and they all were in the same boat.

One of the other deliveries had some paint issues and one of the sales guys came out and said "yeah, that's a scratch, might as well throw this thing out." Totally cavalier about the whole process.

 

[ElectricLee]

Sorry about the start of your ownership, the the car is worth it. Enjoy the drive.

 

[Scott7]

After a few days with the car, I've calmed down. I only need to buy it once, but I get to drive it daily. The car is pretty spectacular in nearly every way. I just wish the delivery process could be more professional where I feel like a valued customer and not a mark.

I think this is the right/necessary attitude at this point with Tesla. Sorry to hear you were one of the unlucky ones.

Everyone doesn't have such a bad experience, but too many seem to. Just imagine how well Tesla would do if they were to improve the consistency of their delivery/service and QA game! I really hope they succeed at doing so.

 

[VikH]

I was particularly insulted that Tesla gave me the car with a 50 mile charge. It was just barely enough to get me home. They refused to hook it to one of the many open supercharges since they weren't allowed to give free charges.

Wow that sucks. Tesla can't spare a few bucks to charge customers brand new cars? That is ridiculous.

 

[woodisgood]

Definitely sounds like a pretty amateurish and lackluster delivery experience, but at least you didn't have to deal with a shifty finance manager changing numbers on your contract while getting you to look the other way with a cup of tea?

I prepped my wife in advance of the delivery last summer because I knew what to expect (thanks to the online Tesla community) and knew how turned off she'd get by stuff like this. It will be a bit of a sh-show, I told her, not because anyone is trying to manipulate or take advantage of you, but because they simply don't have the ability to do any better right now. Expect glitches. Deal with them, get amazing car, win.

You're going to love the car. Tesla has a [long] ways to go in terms of streamlining their customer service with all this new volume, but they'll get there eventually. Good that you're a part of this community - you will learn much more about your car than most of the entry-level Tesla employees you might interact with.

 

[kavyboy]

He informed me he was actually a software intern

I would have asked him as many questions about the software development environment as I could. I would love to know how things "work" there.

 

[WileyTheMan]

Makes me wonder if they've got a few sanitation engineers working the floor too.

That sucks that your experience was tarnished. As you're finding out, it really is a good car. Yes, clearly they are still dealing with delivery hell.

 

[Matt L]

Hello All!

I've been a lurker for a while and I'd like to thank all of you for helping me actually pull the trigger on my Model 3 AWD.

I picked up my car Saturday but the process was truly terrible and its clear that Tesla still is not up to par with other auto manufacturers in regards to customer service.

I placed the order 2 days prior to delivery, and was notified that the car could be picked up at the Fremont Delivery Hub. I received no calls from a delivery specialist and when I called, I was directed to a full mailbox that disconnected me. Only though hounding emails was I able to actually get someone from Tesla to talk to me about my trade in, delivery time, and needed documents. I got all this 11:30pm the day before my delivery.

Saturday came and I was directed to wait in the parking lot for my delivery "specialist" to show up. I eventually got a call and I walked over to meet him. He informed me he was actually a software intern and had never even been in a model 3 before delivering to me.

He knew absolutely nothing about the car, but thankfully this forum and YouTube told me how most everything worked. He couldn't open the car, the trunk, didn't know it even had a glove box, and wasn't quite sure that the "extra" charging plug was for. I spent time showing him how to pair my phone to the car and setting everything up. Then he shook my hand to leave before we had actually signed any paperwork.

I asked him about registration, how transferring my trade in plates would work, and what else I needed to provide to Tesla. At that point, I didn't even show him my ID, I could have been anyone! He told me he needed me to sign a bunch of paperwork but I wasn't allowed to have a copy of any of it and that it would populate in my account later. I had to fight to get copies that day of everything in the transaction.

Then I asked him about my trade in and he said he wasn't told anything about that. He said I could take both cars home cause he didn't have any paperwork on that. Obviously that wasn't going to fly, so he called around and they sent another intern over with some trade in papers (all of which I had already filled out online) and they got in my old car and left.

It was pretty poorly handled and felt a lot like selling a car on Craigslist. Signing papers on the kid's back since we didn't even have a table was a nice touch.

I was particularly insulted that Tesla gave me the car with a 50 mile charge. It was just barely enough to get me home. They refused to hook it to one of the many open supercharges since they weren't allowed to give free charges.

We drove away from the Fremont factory pretty pissed off and disgusted how things went. I felt like a total afterthought to Tesla who was just in it to get rid of a car and they didn't care if you liked it or not.

After a few days with the car, I've calmed down. I only need to buy it once, but I get to drive it daily. The car is pretty spectacular in nearly every way. I just wish the delivery process could be more professional where I feel like a valued customer and not a mark.

Sorry for venting...happy to be here!

I picked mine up from there last year. It was very hectic and thankfully I didn’t need any help with the car and wasn’t trading in.

It sounds like they are back in a rush to deliver a bunch of cars before the end of the quarter and asking for company volunteers to do it.

Sucks that it wasn’t smooth but enjoy the car.

 

[Darscot]

The reality of Tesla is they have the best product, everything else is pretty much a nightmare. Minor service at the local level in my experience has been good. Everything beyond that is pretty abysmal. As soon as any other car company can offer a comparable product I'll jump ship. By far the worst part of owning a Tesla is dealing with them.

 

[Matt L]

The reality of Tesla is they have the best product, everything else is pretty much a nightmare. Minor service at the local level in my experience has been good. Everything beyond that is pretty abysmal. As soon as any other car company can offer a comparable product I'll jump ship. By far the worst part of owning a Tesla is dealing with them.

You will be a Tesla customer for a long time.

 

[Tam]

...They refused to hook it to one of the many open supercharges since they weren't allowed to give free charges.

That's why some gasoline Monroney window stickers would say "Full tank of gasoline...Included" to prevent employees from any hesitation for fueling brand new cars.

 

[SMAlset]

Yep we asked for help from the sales people at the sales office and they refused saying they weren't allowed to help in the delivery process. We also asked some of the other people getting deliveries at the same time and they all were in the same boat.

One of the other deliveries had some paint issues and one of the sales guys came out and said "yeah, that's a scratch, might as well throw this thing out." Totally cavalier about the whole process.

I'm going to say that comment probably is the result of him having heard people refusing their deliveries over what might be minor scratches. Not an excuse for the comment but just a possible explanation; and certainly while he might have thought that, not professional to say. I think with reduced staff at the end of a quarter push people working there are feeling the pressure right now and it's showing for some. Someone at Telsa needs to address how things are delivered to customers. Phone calls, paperwork, etc. This is their 3rd very busy end of quarter rush now and clearly not showing Tesla off in a better light. Yes the car does speak for itself and people do love the car but getting there shouldn't be this difficult. I just hope people hang in there through this process because the end result is worth it for the vast majority of people. I know we all just want Tesla to do well.

 

[TampaRich]

Care to post a pic of your new baby?

 

[streetskooler]

sorry that happened to you, that sucks. I had an awesome delivery experience which I'm thankful for. I really can't believe they wouldn't give you a full charge. I hope this an other poor experiences get bubbled up to Elon as he said make this year all about the customer experience.

 

[TeslАDM]

That sucks, my home delivery went wonderfully. (and had a full charge) Tech was incredibly knowledgeable, took time to explain things, helped point out any scratches or scuffs I should report back for repair. I would say that they're understaffed and overwhelmed, and it will probably get worse. The M3s are really rolling off the factory now, and he told me they were pushing 20-30 PER DAY from their site and were literally running out of bodies to do home delivery.

Because your turnaround was so amazingly fast (vice the almost month many of us waited) they probably weren't even close to catching up to give your purchase the attention it deserved.

They're operating on a razor margin so I wouldn't be surprised that hiring and staffing isn't keeping up with vastly fluctuating supply/demand.

 

[roxybalboaguy]

Hello All!

I've been a lurker for a while and I'd like to thank all of you for helping me actually pull the trigger on my Model 3 AWD.

I picked up my car Saturday but the process was truly terrible and its clear that Tesla still is not up to par with other auto manufacturers in regards to customer service.

I placed the order 2 days prior to delivery, and was notified that the car could be picked up at the Fremont Delivery Hub. I received no calls from a delivery specialist and when I called, I was directed to a full mailbox that disconnected me. Only though hounding emails was I able to actually get someone from Tesla to talk to me about my trade in, delivery time, and needed documents. I got all this 11:30pm the day before my delivery.

Saturday came and I was directed to wait in the parking lot for my delivery "specialist" to show up. I eventually got a call and I walked over to meet him. He informed me he was actually a software intern and had never even been in a model 3 before delivering to me.

He knew absolutely nothing about the car, but thankfully this forum and YouTube told me how most everything worked. He couldn't open the car, the trunk, didn't know it even had a glove box, and wasn't quite sure that the "extra" charging plug was for. I spent time showing him how to pair my phone to the car and setting everything up. Then he shook my hand to leave before we had actually signed any paperwork.

I asked him about registration, how transferring my trade in plates would work, and what else I needed to provide to Tesla. At that point, I didn't even show him my ID, I could have been anyone! He told me he needed me to sign a bunch of paperwork but I wasn't allowed to have a copy of any of it and that it would populate in my account later. I had to fight to get copies that day of everything in the transaction.

Then I asked him about my trade in and he said he wasn't told anything about that. He said I could take both cars home cause he didn't have any paperwork on that. Obviously that wasn't going to fly, so he called around and they sent another intern over with some trade in papers (all of which I had already filled out online) and they got in my old car and left.

It was pretty poorly handled and felt a lot like selling a car on Craigslist. Signing papers on the kid's back since we didn't even have a table was a nice touch.

I was particularly insulted that Tesla gave me the car with a 50 mile charge. It was just barely enough to get me home. They refused to hook it to one of the many open supercharges since they weren't allowed to give free charges.

We drove away from the Fremont factory pretty pissed off and disgusted how things went. I felt like a total afterthought to Tesla who was just in it to get rid of a car and they didn't care if you liked it or not.

After a few days with the car, I've calmed down. I only need to buy it once, but I get to drive it daily. The car is pretty spectacular in nearly every way. I just wish the delivery process could be more professional where I feel like a valued customer and not a mark.

Sorry for venting...happy to be here!

Don’t buy your story. It sounds as true as Jussie Smollet’s story.