File a complaint against the service facility at Santa Clara

[kit.chan]

Hi,

I wanted to file a complaint against a service facility at Santa Clara and Tesla really have poor customer service. If they don't want to talk about it, they will just ignoring you and never get back to you.

Dec 2018 Model X have 4500 miles and spent 40% of its life in Tesla service center.

1. There was unexpected damage on the leather in the center console from the driver side and grease stains on passenger side panels upon pickup. I am told by their adviser that there was no way it could have happened in their facility and it was probably caused by my 2 year old daughter that could barely get into the vehicle on her own. (while he was saying it, he was pointing his finger to my 2 year old daughter)
2. Secondly I experienced and been experiencing a clunking / knocking noise during acceleration while the drive train unit is cold. On my first visit, I am told by my Tesla adviser that I need to show prove that the noise is actually happening in a video / audio format. So I came prepared with the video clearly documenting and demonstrating the issue. Then I am told by their service advisor that the video alone is not good enough “technician” needs to hear the knocking sound in order for Tesla to replace the drive shaft unit. I was told that a technician will test drive the vehicle when it is cold to see if they can confirm my issue. When I came to pick up the vehicle, the advisor told me that the noise is a known defect that Tesla is aware of it, however, this is not a warranty item. ?!?!?! What? It sounds like something is loose inside and could be a safety concern. It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. A simple five minute Google search renews that other owners with this same issue and drive shaft and drive units are being replaced to address the issue under warranty.

At the end, I was told the service manager will get back to me regarding the issues I have with my model X, but he never call or email me back. The advisors at the facility keep pushing the responsibility around and keep saying that I need to talk to their service manager, but he can't be reached at all. I emailed him and called him several times, but I didn't get a single reply. Please let me know what is the route to file a complaint.

Regards,
Florence

 

[JimVandegriff]

Wow, I'm quite sorry for your treatment. I don't have any suggestions about how to complain, but I hope you persist and get the vehicle fixed to your satisfaction. Good luck, and keep us informed of your progress.

 

[dailo]

Maybe try another service center and see if they might be able to help? I just dropped off my car at Santa Clara and really regret it. I’m sure it’s not the fault of the people working there as it sounds like management is really unorganized. Not sure if all the service centers are like this now, but not having any loaners is really inconvenient. They are now just giving $100 Uber credit a day, I may have to shell out for my own rental if they keep the car for a while.

 

[kit.chan]

Maybe try another service center and see if they might be able to help? I just dropped off my car at Santa Clara and really regret it. I’m sure it’s not the fault of the people working there as it sounds like management is really unorganized. Not sure if all the service centers are like this now, but not having any loaners is really inconvenient. They are now just giving $100 Uber credit a day, I may have to shell out for my own rental if they keep the car for a while.

I tried taking my X to the Fremont service center a few times before.... Experience there was even worse. They kept telling me there is no issue with my falcon door as it was always detecting objects that won't open. So that's why I switched and tried Santa Clara which they fixed it for me there. Now the falcon door works fine. It is just a problem after a problem that you don't see the end of the tunnel.
However, the noise issue is really bothering me, I can't accept their reason about this is a "known defect". If I plan to sell my car in the future, how can you tell the buyer that this is a known defect and they will just have to live with it?!?!

 

[alloverx]

Leave the car with them and say you want a refund.
Also leave them a number of a lawyer they can talk about it with.

 

[Roverman318]

I made an appointment and took my X to the Santa Clara service center for the clunking noise during acceleration and also to replace a defective Key Fob. The tech basically told me that the clunking noise was expected and within Tesla's tolerance because the X was such a powerful car. What a bunch of BS. Of course he couldn't reproduce the noise while we were there. I told him it happens when the car is cold but he didn't seem to care. I've had the axles replaced at least 2 times before for the same noise at the Burlingame service center so I thought I'd try a different SC since Santa Clara was closer to my work. After farting around for an hour trying to reproduce the noise, they wanted me to wait another hour to get the Key Fob replaced. What a complete waste of time. They did offer to send a mobile tech out to replace the Key Fob so I chose that option. Still have to bring in to have axle noise fixed. Not going back there again.

 

[mbp11]

I would suggest taking it to another service center, like Dublin, or even Monterey. They are nice in those two places, and try not to make it a big deal. Being in the service business myself, people who come in angry or with an agenda affect my willingness to her them out or help them. I am sorry for your experience. You have a right to be upset

 

[mathwhiz]

Post your video here so we can evaluate to see if it sounds like the known 'shudder' issue. I've never known the issue to be related to the drive unit being 'cold'.

 

[born2win]

I had a bad experience with Santa Clara tesla. Worst still, they invoiced me ~$350 for a work they have not done.. They dont even have an email to write to! I will post if I find more info!

 

[ctvsurgn]

I had a nightmarish experience with Tesla model 3. Was notified thru Tesla app that I needed to get computer hardware change on the car less than 2 yrs old ,for full autopilot function(paid when bought).Nearest Tesla center was at corpus christie Texas ,2 hrs drive, and on 15th October this was done. However on 18th October ,after charging car to 270 milesat home ,Tesla app on iPhone would not connect nor the key card , which was functioning before this upgrade. icons on app were greyed out with a circle at bottom saying 'connecting' Emergency Tesla service pinged the car but could not correct it- mentioned low front battery. I was essentially locked out with my wallet and house keys in the car. Luckily I was at home. emergency help would not arrive and asked me to call next day. Next day I got text from Tesla mobile service at corpus enquiring what the issue was.I texted the whole issue again.Their text response was 'fix an appointment with Tesla app' this was dumb because the app was not 'connecting'.Then, they texted bring car on 27th October.I texted- it does not connect or open the door how will I drive. I got frustrated and called emergency Tesla service- wanting urgent help ,stating my wallet and driver license was inside car and car was useless and I myself do emergency service.After much bickering and veiled threats of contacting higher authorities , they sent someone, who I requested bring a front battery since last night there was remote assessment of such. After installing a new battery, car reconnected and is working.How come this was not picked up 3 days before at service center,Did changing hardware run out the battery. how come no warning showed on the Tesla dash board.
However ,after battery install the tech screwed homelink garage door which stopped working after 30 min of tech trying to program it. garage would open only1 foot. He insisted that garage door was faulty. His cockiness with inexperience was striking. I went on lift master website ,then and there and fixed the garage door by reprogramming it. Apparently if you press remote too long ,it wipes the data. . He had wiped the data by pressing the remote in prolonged fashion which can wipe data. Also the trainer button on garage hardware needs to be pressed long enough to make it blink before programming home link etc.

bottom line-testa has mushroomed many service centers in the country with inexperienced techs. it does not match up with Elon's enthusiasm. Time has come for Elon to sample bow or Mercedes service center alacrity and be open minded and fix these. Given this scenario, if the elite car makers develop a comparable car, then loss will be Elon's
They should have a centralized or few hubs of experienced techs that can guide these half baked techs, via zoom or webex. corpus christie apparently has only 2 employees and blind maybe leading the blind.This nightmare scenario of being locked out with no emergency help from Tesla with nearest service 2 hr drive makes me pause weather I should ever buy a Tesla again in a small town

 

[AlexF1]

Try Burlingame service center. I had good experiences there. Santa Clara might be a lot busier with more tesla owners in the south bay vs peninsula.