> you can probably rattle their cage in a very aggressive way by submitting a report against their state license
Never tried. Never even thought of trying. Is this a strategy that's worked for you in the past?
Fruity
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Does Everyone have to wait a long time for Tesla Energy to Resolve an issue?
- Thread starter Fruitcake
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Never tried. Never even thought of trying. Is this a strategy that's worked for you in the past?
Fruity
@Fruitcake I had a similar issue after 3 years of trouble free operation and was able to get it resolved over the phone after a few tries with different agents (there was a lot of hold time involved). They did schedule a visit to check things out proactively and that did take a month, but as the system has been working it did not bother me too much.
What Gateway do you have? Is it the Backup Gateway 2? Based on what you’re describing it sounds like a communication issue with the gateway. Just to verify, was it working correctly before and just stopped?
What troubleshooting has Tesla done with you? Power cycle system? Gateway reset?
What Gateway do you have? Is it the Backup Gateway 2? Based on what you’re describing it sounds like a communication issue with the gateway. Just to verify, was it working correctly before and just stopped?
What troubleshooting has Tesla done with you? Power cycle system? Gateway reset?
No, I've typically been able to sit down with folks and hash out areas of differing perspective before things got to that stage. But of course that implies there's someone to sit down with and discuss. Reading TMC, Tesla has a habit of kind of ghosting people and eventually getting around to things if their cage is rattled enough.
I believe there are intermediate steps between being ghosted and sending legal correspondence to threaten action.
One of those steps could be to leverage other contacts to find a way to locate a sympathetic ear. In my case with Sunrun; there was a time they were ghosting me because they were at an impasse with PG&E on some stuff. I saw a news segment on TV, where Sunrun's VP of Policy was blaming PG&E for ghosting Sunrun's customers and not granting PTO. I reached out to this VP directly and asked her to put me in touch with someone at Sunrun so I could fix the situation with my install; and she immediately helped.
Not servicing Californians in that 30 day window is much a code violation as if they were to install a system with improper wiring. I feel there is merit to submit something to alert California regulators off the offenses. Maybe it's the local Attorney General, the State licensing board, or Tweeting Elon.
Tesla is continuing to install brand new systems, which suggests to me that whatever anomaly they're experiencing with "service delays" is not as dire as to halt their business operations.
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Tesla hasn't ghosted me. They're just horrendously slow at getting technicians onsite.
Yeah, Jersey doesn't have a clearly spelled out requirement for all that warranty blizz-blazz that your attorney described to actually be executed within a certain timeframe. The federal and state laws you have basically just say Tesla has to try to honor some laws and codes. I think you're expecting Tesla to be a professional squad on the service-side. But, Tesla could just be staffed with (edit spelling) wiffle ballers. The law doesn't actually say Tesla has to try hard with an A-team.
So you're basically either looking at a protracted wait with Tesla's F-team (the F stands for friggin' slow)... or a protracted (and potentially expensive) timeline trying to compel Tesla to perform the Warranty at an A-team caliber.
I'm not sure how much time/effort this means to you. Some people are chill and think "just wait it out, it's no biggie it's just solar". While others are in the "this is BS since every day that goes by is money leaking out of my pocket since I get no return on my capital investment." Once you identify the type of customer you are, then you can act accordingly and be comfortable in your decisions on waiting, paying lawyers, or rattling cages.
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It's a first-generation HEG. Tried logging in and out of the app, tried resetting the HEG using a chopstick to depress the reset button, tried powering off the entire house for 5 minutes (what Tesla cheerfully calls a "whole home shutdown" as if that's a positive thing - somehow failing to realize that the entire purpose of this system is to PREVENT whole home power outages).
It then was turned over to Tesla's second-level support, which also tinkered remotely and failed to fix the issue. They think the metering system has gone offline for some physical reason - a short circuit, a corroded or disconnected wire, who knows?
Yes, Tesla's phone wait times are lengthy. Calling Tesla for support reminds me of going to the dentist, except that's more fun because of the drugs. Most call centers live and die by their "abandon" rate - the rate at which depressed callers, tired of being placed on infinite hold, simply hang up. I wonder if Tesla regards their abandon rate as a positive indicator, having successfully evaded having to deal with another customer.
Fruitcake
My attorney enlightened me on a federal law entitled the "Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act" - which simply prescribes that warranty repairs must be performed in a "reasonable" amount of time. That adjective is large enough to drive a truck through. (Maybe even a Tesla truck!)
Thing is - I don't care about the money - the solar portion of the system is apparently working just fine. I purchased this system ENTIRELY for power backup and redundancy, which has failed due to the metering issue. Makes it hard to chill (unless by "chill" you mean I'm freezing in my house due to lack of power to run the gas heating system in the middle of winter, in which case I will indeed be chilling - just like Dr. Evil in his space capsule). It's hard to put a $$ value on being in the dark.
Fruitcake
Sounds like you’ve pretty much tried everything then. In my case there was limited success with the whole house power down, but then the gateway reset (at the request of a more experienced agent) took care of it. In my case the agent told me to hold the reset for 5 seconds.
Maybe the Neurio meter they are using in the gateway failed.
When I was calling them there was an option to get a callback (instead of having to wait something like 45 minutes on hold). Though with the callback option you only get 1 chance to answer the phone when they call.
Given metering is totally down, and backup unavailable, I’d try maybe calling and escalating nicely to see if you can get prioritized sooner. I did notice there was some variation in service and level of experience depending on the time of day (not sure if this was coincidental, or due to different call centers). For me I had the best luck in the afternoon (around 4 - 5pm PST).
I will say that when they finally got out to do their onsite follow up to check everything out, the tech and service was pretty good. It’s just too bad it takes a while to get there right now.
I have only heard of lawsuits using Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act for warranty claim denials but it would be interesting to see one for delayed warranty service just to clarify what "reasonable" amount of time means legally.
> It’s just too bad it takes a while to get there right now.
And that's the whole point of this thread - that they're taking FAR too long to assist existing customers with onsite warranty repairs.
There are exactly two possibilities:
1. They are unable to respond any faster. This could be due to labor shortages, part shortages, COVID, etc.
2. They are unwilling to respond any faster. For example, they might be prioritizing things like new installations ahead of supporting existing installations, because that's money it the bank that gets management bonuses paid and keeps stock prices high and what not.
My guess is #2.
Fruitcake
My attorney says that it's highly variable and depends on the particulars of the situation.
If I were dealing with a defective toaster oven, for example - well, I have many options for toaster ovens - I could simply select a new toaster oven and bill/sue over the defective toaster oven. Maybe a month for warranty service is "reasonable" under such circumstances. My poor bread has to go untoasted for a month, but talk about first world problems....
This thing, on the other hand, is BOLTED to my house and INTEGRATED with my electric utility. And it's so PROPRIETARY that no one can service it but Tesla. Quite different than a disposable toaster oven. Is one month "reasonable" for repair? I would say no.
I would have to file a lawsuit to determine if a judge agrees.
Fruitcake
Don’t forget that even if you got a judge or arbitrator to side with you, then you still have the challenge of explaining what damages you suffered because Tesla service was deliberately slow.
And by the time you got it all sorted through the legal system, it’ll be 2023.
Or you coulda went with enphase micros. If a few fail it won’t matter too much to overall production.
I'm out in Iowa, yet there are two Tesla certified installers within a couple hours of me. I went with one of them for my system. I would think in New Jersey there are more Tesla certified installers than only Tesla. Without knowing their particular agreements with the mother ship, call one up and ask them to come out and replace your Neurio. Any installer who is worth anything will have one getting dusty in the stock room. Shucks, it's only money and certainly worth it for your peace of mind.
I realize I might have failed to grasp what the actual problem is. My premise is: Just pour money on the problem and get it fixed.
David
I realize I might have failed to grasp what the actual problem is. My premise is: Just pour money on the problem and get it fixed.
David
I have SolarEdge inverters. They're working just fine. The problem is with the Home Energy Gateway.
Tried that. I called several and none of them will touch the Home Energy Gateway because it's so proprietary to Tesla.
I'd basically have to pay them to rip out the HEG and replace it with whatever off-the-shelf equivalents in the market exist. A few thousand dollars at minimum. I'd also be voiding my Tesla "warranty" but I hope it's obvious from this thread by now, how little that warranty is actually worth.
Fruitcake
There isnt any, at least to my knowledge (nothing other than regular escalation). As a reminder, this website is not affiliated with tesla, its a non affiliated site. I am a volunteer moderator so have no specific connections. Even site owners here have no ties at all to Tesla.
I say all that to ensure that its clear that I, nor TMC have no specific input into that. In fact, I have a couple of outstanding issues I am trying to work through with tesla energy, and am encountering the same things others are (which is expected since I am just a regular person). I am not going to detail what my issues are, I just share to state "I see this too"
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(moderator note)
I believe tesla employees sometimes visit this site to look for feedback etc. I have re-stickied a discussion / Thread on tesla customer service that previously existed. I would like those concerns / complaints etc put in that thread. I am not going to merge this thread into that one as it will destroy the conversation in this one, but am locking this thread and encouraging anyone who wishes to continue discussing that topic to post in that thread.
Going forward, those discussions in this subforum will be moved into that thread.
Discussion: Tesla Energy / Auto Customer Service
The couple say they have now faced 18 months of recurring, damaging leaks, a severe mold infestation that forced them out of their home for three months, and an ongoing dispute with Tesla over how much money Tesla will pay for repairs...
teslamotorsclub.com
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