Has anyone noticed a huge drop off in service re Melbourne SC?

[EcoCloudIT]

Many issues on both my cars, one will cause me to be driving a loaner car for a 2 week minimum period, waited 7 weeks to be assured I would get a Tesla Loaner and 1 week out from booking, and purely by accident, got told I would be put in a Thrifty rental for 2 weeks?! Just happened to be in the Service Centres as my car is refusing to charge when on SCs when I asked them to check this over when it comes in the next week for the appointment, much to my dismay got told I would not be getting a Tesla loaner. I don't mind a non-Tesla for a day, I guess, however 2-3 weeks I find it unacceptable to be given an ICE to drive to Tesla customers. Of note, these are warranty issues/damage when in Tesla's care.

Luke/Grace and other top techs all gone...for me things are dramatically dropping off in Service (Melbourne) and the way Tesla has gone to a whole new lack of communication level...has anyone experienced anything similar?

I am focussing on the past few months and Melbourne only with my questions/frustration above.

 

[Icey]

Totally, I have to take my X in for some body work (Warranty) Made a booking very far out (5 weeks) on the promise I'd get a Tesla Loaner. Rock up and no loaner. Took my X and went home. Got a booking late June now for the same things... $20 says they'll do the same thing.

I'm with you. If its a 1-2 day job I'll take the ICE, otherwise it should be a Tesla.

Melb SC has gone downhill a lot in the last few months so much I'm tempted to cancel my M3 reservation just in spite.

 

[conman]

Agreed. Communication is at an all time low, wait times are up, and the loaners are garbage. I miss the earlier days.

 

[houdini]

Many issues on both my cars, one will cause me to be driving a loaner car for a 2 week minimum period, waited 7 weeks to be assured I would get a Tesla Loaner and 1 week out from booking, and purely by accident, got told I would be put in a Thrifty rental for 2 weeks?! Just happened to be in the Service Centres as my car is refusing to charge when on SCs when I asked them to check this over when it comes in the next week for the appointment, much to my dismay got told I would not be getting a Tesla loaner. I don't mind a non-Tesla for a day, I guess, however 2-3 weeks I find it unacceptable to be given an ICE to drive to Tesla customers. Of note, these are warranty issues/damage when in Tesla's care.

I am focussing on the past few months and Melbourne only with my questions/frustration above.

Do they pay for fuel? I would find it unacceptable if they put me in a fossil car and i had to pay the huge amounts that petrol and diesel go for now days compared to charging form my home charger.

 

[houdini]

Totally, ...

Melb SC has gone downhill a lot in the last few months so much I'm tempted to cancel my M3 reservation just in spite.

I kinda wouldn’t say it’s spite actually, more risk aversion. I will defend Tesla with the best of them but I don’t think we can cut them as much slack now they’re not a struggling startup anymore. They’re one of the biggest i.e. highest value by market capitalisation Motor vehicle manufacturers in the World for Gods sake.

You are paying good money for this car and granted it’s an electric and granted it has a lot of advantages over some and you pay a premium for some of that but come on: it’s a freakin $150,000+ car and you should expect some things you would take for granted form other manufacturers if you laid down such cash.

I feel like your experience at Jaguar, or Mercedes or even Hyundai would be better and it’s maybe time Tesla stepped up a bit and stopped leaning on the goodwill of customers.

 

[paulp]

Makes me realise how well we are looked after by Gerard in Adelaide

 

[meloccom]

Do they pay for fuel? I would find it unacceptable if they put me in a fossil car and i had to pay the huge amounts that petrol and diesel go for now days compared to charging form my home charger.

I was given a Benz loaner for my last service and they said not to worry about refilling it.

 

[Davide]

Grace was fantastic as was Luke. Letting them go is idiotic and has left a bad taste.
Because top companies nurture good people.
Grace could talk you through to the tiniest detail of a problem. She left BMW as apprentice of the year and she strove to be of help, Luke likewise.
I understand Tesla's mission but
"Cars built for humans by humans who care for the future of humanity."
has a better ring to it than,
"Cars built for robots by robots who care for the future of humanity (oh, and by the way need to cut back our human staff).

 

[WozX]

I’d organised minor warranty paint work resulting from FWD realignment and indicated my preference for a Tesla loaner. Although the appointment was deferred a couple of times as they’d apparently unloaded many of the loan cars (and once because of me), Grace had me in a new X for the first week of May. My service experience was nothing short of excellent as a result.
I am curious to see how the service experience will be with Model 3 ramp up - hopefully the cars will be near flawless by the time they land here...

 

[EcoCloudIT]

@WozX to be clear I have waited and been cancelled a number of times now with no Tesla loan car for something that is not my fault...just had another booking made and got the same message "I have scheduled you in a fixed asst Tesla vehicle (subject to availability) for the appointment etc."....I waited 2 months for the first appointment (got ex customers car, all okay), car came BACK damaged so Tesla agreed to fix, waited another 6-7 weeks and only by chance found out they would not have a Tesla loan car available for my booking, so have rebooked AGAIN which is another 6-7 weeks away and again I have no guarantee of a Tesla car....seriously in anyones language is that considered acceptable? My car was damaged (dented in two locations to which I have photographic evidence), Tesla should have immediately given me a loan car and have my booked in to be fixed pronto....first world problems I know but come on this is getting ridiculous.

So three issues here:

1. Long wait times to get booked in
2. No loan cars to give to customers
3. Continual turn over and loss of staff and generally not enough staff to service demand
4. New problems seem to happen when with Tesla, my car this time damage (oh and seat base 2 times, door handle 2 times..list goes on, surely easier to fix first time no?). In my wife's case will be going back for the third time to have the one issue addressed (she's had her new X in over 5 times for other issues and the one issue 3 times in 6-7 months of ownership, she's about ready to sell it, can I blame or stop her? I think not)

The Porsche Taycan is looking extremely tempting....bugger it putting down the fully refundable $2.5k on it just in case.

 

[paulp]

@WozX to be clear I have waited and been cancelled a number of times now with no Tesla loan car for something that is not my fault...just had another booking made and got the same message "I have scheduled you in a fixed asst Tesla vehicle (subject to availability) for the appointment etc."....I waited 2 months for the first appointment (got ex customers car, all okay), car came BACK damaged so Tesla agreed to fix, waited another 6-7 weeks and only by chance found out they would not have a Tesla loan car available for my booking, so have rebooked AGAIN which is another 6-7 weeks away and again I have no guarantee of a Tesla car....seriously in anyones language is that considered acceptable? My car was damaged (dented in two locations to which I have photographic evidence), Tesla should have immediately given me a loan car and have my booked in to be fixed pronto....first world problems I know but come on this is getting ridiculous.

So three issues here:

1. Long wait times to get booked in
2. No loan cars to give to customers
3. Continual turn over and loss of staff and generally not enough staff to service demand
4. New problems seem to happen when with Tesla, my car this time damage (oh and seat base 2 times, door handle 2 times..list goes on, surely easier to fix first time no?). In my wife's case will be going back for the third time to have the one issue addressed (she's had her new X in over 5 times for other issues and the one issue 3 times in 6-7 months of ownership, she's about ready to sell it, can I blame or stop her? I think not)

The Porsche Taycan is looking extremely tempting....bugger it putting down the fully refundable $2.5k on it just in case.

Must be a melbourne thing. The longest delay I’ve had for an issue was 2 weeks, and that was for rattly suspension replacement. In 5 years and 4 tesla I’ve had 2 handle, 2 suspension, and 1 screen replacement. All performed professionally and no repeat problem.
My recent new tesla came with a heavily damaged 21” wheel. There was no fuss, and a replacement wheel was brought to me and replaced with zero inconvenience. Actually the new tesla had a faulty boot lock, but the next day Gerard was in my garage replacing it, once again no inconvenience.
It sounds to me like you need to lobby someone from tesla to increase melbourne staffing. Its not going to end well over there when the 3 lands.

 

[raynewman]

The Porsche Taycan is looking extremely tempting....bugger it putting down the fully refundable $2.5k on it just in case.

I'd watch that "fully refundable" - all sorts of problems from them in Europe.

 

[WozX]

@WozX to be clear I have waited and been cancelled a number of times now with no Tesla loan car for something that is not my fault...just had another booking made and got the same message "I have scheduled you in a fixed asst Tesla vehicle (subject to availability) for the appointment etc."....I waited 2 months for the first appointment (got ex customers car, all okay), car came BACK damaged so Tesla agreed to fix, waited another 6-7 weeks and only by chance found out they would not have a Tesla loan car available for my booking, so have rebooked AGAIN which is another 6-7 weeks away and again I have no guarantee of a Tesla car....seriously in anyones language is that considered acceptable? My car was damaged (dented in two locations to which I have photographic evidence), Tesla should have immediately given me a loan car and have my booked in to be fixed pronto....first world problems I know but come on this is getting ridiculous.

So three issues here:

1. Long wait times to get booked in
2. No loan cars to give to customers
3. Continual turn over and loss of staff and generally not enough staff to service demand
4. New problems seem to happen when with Tesla, my car this time damage (oh and seat base 2 times, door handle 2 times..list goes on, surely easier to fix first time no?). In my wife's case will be going back for the third time to have the one issue addressed (she's had her new X in over 5 times for other issues and the one issue 3 times in 6-7 months of ownership, she's about ready to sell it, can I blame or stop her? I think not)

The Porsche Taycan is looking extremely tempting....bugger it putting down the fully refundable $2.5k on it just in case.

@EcoCloudIT you've certainly described a very ordinary experience and I'd be equally disappointed. Poring over the forums prior to purchase, I was certainly aware that there was a strong risk of my car having quality issues, however a great service experience was there to smooth things over. If your experience becomes closer to the norm, I think it's a fairly clear sign that they're privileging the budget cuts we read about for short term survival versus longer term customer satisfaction and loyalty to the brand.

 

[EcoCloudIT]

@raynewman wouldn't have a link on the issues re fully refundable deposits re Porsche Taycan?

Highly doubt Porsche Australia would be able to get away with offering a fully refundable deposit and then renege on it.

Reading through the form that was sent to me it's very clear the deposit is fully refundable for any reason I may wish....

 

[raynewman]

@raynewman wouldn't have a link on the issues re fully refundable deposits re Porsche Taycan?

Highly doubt Porsche Australia would be able to get away with offering a fully refundable deposit and then renege on it.

Reading through the form that was sent to me it's very clear the deposit is fully refundable for any reason I may wish....

I was thinking of the Audi ETron - the same company and as I'm smarting with an Audi in the fleet, I don't like them much.

 

[EcoCloudIT]

I should also add Chris and Iain in Melbourne SC are nice guys, it is more a case of under resourced (employees) and lack of resources (Tesla cars to give customers)...they would be my main issues....

 

[PJF000]

I should also add Chris and Iain in Melbourne SC are nice guys, it is more a case of under resourced (employees) and lack of resources (Tesla cars to give customers)...they would be my main issues....

Service is going mobile and over the air where possible, showroom and sales are going to Chadstone, deliveries will be at Richmond, major service will be at Richmond, owner's lounge will be 9-5, M-F. Times are a-changing.

 

[EcoCloudIT]

@PJF000 unfortunately my car will be major I assume:

1. Seat base, 2nd go on this one for me
2. 2x dents that occurred last time when with Tesla (off to 3rd party repairer)
3. Onboard charger to be replaced due to not charging at SC’s

I guess the general service, door handle (2nd time to replace) and grinding noise when the drivers side window goes up and down may be on-site/at my work place fixes?

 

[paulp]

Service is going mobile and over the air where possible, showroom and sales are going to Chadstone, deliveries will be at Richmond, major service will be at Richmond, owner's lounge will be 9-5, M-F. Times are a-changing.

I would have thought Richmond is a great place for a showroom. Too many sales staff, but it always seemed very busy at Tesla when I walk along Church Street.

 

[PJF000]

I would have thought Richmond is a great place for a showroom. Too many sales staff, but it always seemed very busy at Tesla when I walk along Church Street.

It's all a numbers game.

Virtually no foot or vehicular passing trade at Richmond v 20+ million foot traffic (visitors) to Chadstone Shopping Centre per year.

There is certainly activity at Richmond, but many people coming for service, waiting for charging, delivery of goods, other Tesla business upstairs etc.

I am not suprised given the sales v overhead costs to run that showroom. If it was round the corner next to the Zagame showrooms, it may have been a different story.