Delivery Process Improvement After Paying for Tesla Before Transport

[bob_p]

Tesla appears to have changed their policy in the last year to once again require full payment before they will transport a vehicle going to a state where Tesla is not allowed to provide cars. This was the case for our original 2012 S P85, but was not the case for our 2017 S 100D. For our X 100D, Tesla is again requiring pre-payment.

The status changed on our X to "built and in transport" last Monday. We provided payment the next day, as soon as Tesla provided us the paperwork and activated the "pay now" section on our Tesla Account. At that point, we had signed a copy of the Purchase Agreement and provided them payment, and based on the wording of the documents, from their perspective we now own the X.

Since then, I was checking each day with our DS to find out the status of transporting our X - and by this Monday, our DS admitted she didn't have confidence in the status information she was getting on our X.

I then called our local Service Center, who confirmed the X was scheduled for delivery to the SC by Monday evening, though when they checked with the transport driver, the driver indicated that would probably not happen until Tuesday evening - which now has been delayed further until sometime today.

Since Tesla believes we owned the car as early as last Tuesday, we should be able to track exactly where it is at all times. They should add it to our smartphones so we can track the location ourselves - and not rely on the DS, who may not have very accurate information anyway.

Though a better fix is to go back to how Tesla sold us our S 100D last year - and allow payment immediately before owners accept delivery...

 

[TexasRat]

I assume you were paying in cash? I just spoke to my DS and I told her I was going to finance (rates were low and I can make more in the stock market, so I'm going to just invest the cash I was going to use for the car). In this case, she said she can take my pre-approval and basically fund the loan as soon as production is finished, which should allow for a hopefully seamless transition to shipping.

I'm curious if you were financing or not. Did you pick up your car at least? I seem to recall it's just about ready for you a day or so ago?

 

[bob_p]

Yes, this will be the 3rd Tesla we've purchased with cash.

Tesla seems to be having problems with getting our X shipped to Texas. Their system was showing delivery to the Service Center on Monday night. Then it was by Tuesday evening. Then it was Wednesday morning or early afternoon. And now they believe it could be at the SC by this afternoon (Thursday).

We've already provided them a $100K check, over a week ago. Our trade-in 2013 S P85 has already been removed from our Tesla Account and from our smartphone app, as if Tesla has taken ownership of the car.

And they can't seem to get the actual status of where our Model X is located.

Plus, what makes this worse, the Service Center is an hour drive from here - so we keep blocking out about 3 hours on our schedule for each day so we can go to pick it up as soon as it's ready...

I doubt many of the new Model 3 owners will be as understanding on this delivery process...

 

[TexasEV]

Yes, this will be the 3rd Tesla we've purchased with cash.

Tesla seems to be having problems with getting our X shipped to Texas. Their system was showing delivery to the Service Center on Monday night. Then it was by Tuesday evening. Then it was Wednesday morning or early afternoon. And now they believe it could be at the SC by this afternoon (Thursday).

We've already provided them a $100K check, over a week ago. Our trade-in 2013 S P85 has already been removed from our Tesla Account and from our smartphone app, as if Tesla has taken ownership of the car.

And they can't seem to get the actual status of where our Model X is located.

Plus, what makes this worse, the Service Center is an hour drive from here - so we keep blocking out about 3 hours on our schedule for each day so we can go to pick it up as soon as it's ready...

I doubt many of the new Model 3 owners will be as understanding on this delivery process...

Why? What is it about the Model X (or their owners) that makes one more understanding than someone buying a Model 3?

 

[JamesPCowboy]

Bob P,

My wife and I will soon be taking delivery of a model 3 in Texas while performing a trade in and it hasn’t been the smoothest process either.

Tesla received the check (smooth -Shout out to RBFCU, they get the Tesla process, great bank to work with), agreed upon trade in value (smooth) but when it comes to delivery window there is room for improvement. We hear it’s ‘on the truck, will be here tomorrow for pickup’ and arrange our pickup day/time accordingly. We call 4PM the day before pickup and are told it wasn’t put on the truck they planned on and it is still stirring on a lot in California. We were then told it should be in Monday the following week. We call Monday to see if it arrived, he replies it hasn’t, it should be in late Monday, early Tuesday but he can’t confirm. This will all be water under the bridge one the car arrives, but I would have thought given I’ve already paid for the car (Pre-pay in Texas) they’d have much tighter tracking of these vehicles while in transit with more accurate delivery windows.

Hopefully it arrives in great shape, within the planned delivery window this week!!

Yes, this will be the 3rd Tesla we've purchased with cash.

Tesla seems to be having problems with getting our X shipped to Texas. Their system was showing delivery to the Service Center on Monday night. Then it was by Tuesday evening. Then it was Wednesday morning or early afternoon. And now they believe it could be at the SC by this afternoon (Thursday).

We've already provided them a $100K check, over a week ago. Our trade-in 2013 S P85 has already been removed from our Tesla Account and from our smartphone app, as if Tesla has taken ownership of the car.

And they can't seem to get the actual status of where our Model X is located.

Plus, what makes this worse, the Service Center is an hour drive from here - so we keep blocking out about 3 hours on our schedule for each day so we can go to pick it up as soon as it's ready...

I doubt many of the new Model 3 owners will be as understanding on this delivery process...

 

[TexasRat]

Bob P,

My wife and I will soon be taking delivery of a model 3 in Texas while performing a trade in and it hasn’t been the smoothest process either.

Tesla received the check (smooth -Shout out to RBFCU, they get the Tesla process, great bank to work with), agreed upon trade in value (smooth) but when it comes to delivery window there is room for improvement. We hear it’s ‘on the truck, will be here tomorrow for pickup’ and arrange our pickup day/time accordingly. We call 4PM the day before pickup and are told it wasn’t put on the truck they planned on and it is still stirring on a lot in California. We were then told it should be in Monday the following week. We call Monday to see if it arrived, he replies it hasn’t, it should be in late Monday, early Tuesday but he can’t confirm. This will all be water under the bridge one the car arrives, but I would have thought given I’ve already paid for the car (Pre-pay in Texas) they’d have much tighter tracking of these vehicles while in transit with more accurate delivery windows.

Hopefully it arrives in great shape, within the planned delivery window this week!!

Yeah that's really unfortunate. Sounds like it isn't getting any better. Hope they work out the kinks. I guess I should assume I'll have to make the first payment before I even get the car. Which would be terrible, btw, if I have to refuse delivery of the car.

 

[Spelly88]

@bob_p Did you ever take delivery? How'd everything go?

 

[bob_p]

Have been offline - enjoying time with family - especially with our new Model X which finally arrived last Thursday morning, and the Service Center was able to quickly get it prepped for delivery to us late Thursday afternoon.

The transport process relies on 3rd parties, outside of Tesla's control - and that may be the problem.

Our delivery specialist wasn't able to get clear confirmation our X had actually left the factory - and when it did, wasn't able to get accurate information on the projected delivery date to the local Service Center.

Starting last Monday, we worked only with our local Service Center - who was able to call the transport driver directly. The delivery which was showing as Monday night in Tesla's system turned into Tuesday night after talking to the driver. On Tuesday, the driver indicated he didn't make as much progress as he hoped - and the estimated transport delivery was pushed to Wednesday morning or afternoon. On Wednesday, they called the driver - who told Tesla it would be Thursday morning.

And on Thursday morning, Tesla called us, said the X was there, was completing their acceptance checks (from transport) and would be ready late in the afternoon (assuming no problems were found).

The failure appears to be with the 3rd party transport - not with Tesla. Tesla's internal systems were showing the status indicated by the transport company/driver. Though it's hard to understand, without any major weather events or emergencies, why a delivery in Houston on Monday night could possibly slip 3 days...

As for the comment about S/X owners vs. 3 owners. Many of the S/X owners are still "early adopters", and have proven to be willing to forgive Tesla in many areas - such as buggy software releases, delays in getting parts, unfulfilled feature promises (by Musk), …

At some point, Tesla will move past these early adopters - and when that happens, those customers will likely not be as willing to forgive Tesla for some of these issues... Especially after Tesla starts getting some real competition when other manufacturers are selling long range EVs and there is an alternative to the Supercharger network.

As to our situation, as we near having our new X for our first week, the frustrations with the delivery process are rapidly fading - replaced with the satisfaction of making the right decision in cancelling our Model 3 reservation - and getting a 7 passenger Model X (especially after having 10 family members visit for the last week!).

 

[jboy210]

First, bob_p congrats on the new car.

Just curious, but are there any bills in motion in states to allow Tesla to do direct sales to customers so this whole transportation to SC of a sold car thing can go away? While I applaud you guys for your tenacity in getting the car you love, it really should not be this hard.

 

[bob_p]

In Texas, the legislature only meets for 4 months every 2 years. Which really means there are only 2 months every 2 years to get new bills introduced and considered. Tesla keeps trying to get an exception to the dealership laws so they can sell direct - but the dealership lobby is so strong, they haven't been able to get a bill passed.

However, other than a few minor annoyances, it's really not a big deal. If anything, preventing Tesla from direct sales in Texas emphasizes how little value dealerships are providing for the other manufacturers...

 

[xyeahtony]

Why? What is it about the Model X (or their owners) that makes one more understanding than someone buying a Model 3?

As for the comment about S/X owners vs. 3 owners. Many of the S/X owners are still "early adopters", and have proven to be willing to forgive Tesla in many areas - such as buggy software releases, delays in getting parts, unfulfilled feature promises (by Musk), …

I disagree. Rich people complain a lot more than middle-class/poor people. (you just admitted to writing a $100k check, something 98% of people do not have the ability to do). Entitlement has a lot to do with expectation. People who barely make enough to afford a model 3 will be grateful for having a perceived luxury/futuristic car and will not complain about perceived triviality. Even you yourself admitted eventually that your issue had nothing to do with Tesla, but with the 3rd party delivery company which was out of their control. Just look at the model 3 subthreads, the majority of complaints come from previous Tesla owners while first time owners seem to be wowed and are in love with their cars.

Tesla's policy to require payment before delivery is a consequence of your state's laws preventing Tesla from selling cars in the first place, hence the loophole of buying a car out of state and having it delivered. They may have taken payment in the past but this was obviously in clear violation of Texas laws and they were just gambling to see if they could get away with it (apparently they decided they could not). Once again, blame the state and their archaic laws for forcing Tesla to resort to convoluted ways to get your car.

 

[posity]

I disagree. Rich people complain a lot more than middle-class/poor people.

We run a vacation rental business and have found exactly the opposite - over many years and hundreds of guests. During the prime season when our rates are at their highest (over $300 per night), the guests we meet are consistently friendly, happy and rarely complain even when something goes wrong. Many of those people seem almost apologetic if they bring an item to our attention. We immediately respond to repairs/missing items and have found the higher priced guests to be consistently forgiving if we are making an obvious effort to correct a problem, even if it may take awhile.

We used to radically reduce the prices during the off season (in the low $100's range - well over a 70% discount), but found that those lower cost guests were much more likely to complain, do odd things to get further discounts, threaten bad reviews to get discounts and ended up just not being worth the hassle.

Our experience is that the folks who pay well for a service/product expect a great product and understand there can be errors. But if we were to not correct those errors quickly, I'm quite confident we would hear about it. On the other hand, the folks that get a great bargain are more likely to complain about minor issues and are more likely to feel entitled to freebies and compensation for items over which we have no control (like the weather).

You could argue that the high end vacation rental business is not like selling high end cars - and I've got no data to support that position. However, after all these years, my experience with the 'rich' guests (wow, I really dislike the 'R' word, find it difficult to even write it) has been consistently positive.

 

[xyeahtony]

In all fairness, the ex-delivery specialist who did a tell all here on the TMC said the worst customers were the ones who were in the tax bracket to barely afford the car (and TMC members) hahaha