Has the way you feel about Tesla changed the way you speak about Tesla to others?

[darthy001]

@Andyw2100

forum says

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Andyw2100 again.

last post is exactly my feelings! Minor details that annoys the hell out of me at times, and could have been so easily avoided!

 

[LetsGoFast]

To be fair, Tesla allowed customers to buy a pre-paid Ranger plan. Those pre-paid plans were for $100 per visit. I don't think that has changed for people who bought that plan. Just like the alignments are still included for those who bought the pre-paid service. If the Ranger fee is changing, it is for those who did not pre-pay. Tesla raises prices on things like extended warranties and service visits because those are non-contractual. I suspect the increase to the Ranger fee falls under the same category, unless, of course, you pre-paid.

Unfortunately, pre-paid ranger service wasn't offered at the time I purchased. I bought everything they would sell me in terms of pre-paid service. In the interest of full disclosure, I should also mention that although I was advised that the new policy was to charge $450 instead of $99, they elected to waive the fee the only time I've needed service so I don't really have a reason to complain at this time. I just sort of have a potential reason to complain if they ever do enforce the policy that they have told me about.

I'd also say that even though I am less happy than I was initially, I wouldn't say that I am in any way unhappy. On balance, I'd still buy the car again in a second. It is beautiful, screamingly fast and I really do believe represents a big leap forward towards the future of automobiles. They are still super-uncommon in my area and I end up talking to people about it nearly every single day and for the most part I'd say I'm still a cheerleader. But I am troubled about retro-actively changing the rules. I have no problem with the fact that free ranger service or pre-paid ranger service was no longer available to me, I knew that when I bought the car. I'd even be fine with the rate going from $99 to $150 or something, but a jump to $400+ is a pretty big one.

Due to a bit of laziness, I still haven't sold my 911 or Supra and I still struggle to force myself to drive either one. I'd much rather be in the Tesla, every single time.

 

[Lump]

I know Tesla monitors the forums... I kind of hope they take note of this poll...

I choose option 3 & my service center knows how I feel.

Andy, thanks for setting up the poll!

 

[cpa]

I feel the same way both immediately after I received my car and now, 14 months later. Tesla does amazing things, and I extol those amazing things when asked. But as others have pointed out, I also try to be objective when it comes to the announcements and other promotional claims that they make. Sometimes what Tesla promotes and reality are diametrically different. I would feel more comfortable if Tesla were to tone some things down a notch until they were real and not anticipated. But sometimes we all get carried away with enthusiasm!

Tesla is in an uncommon manufacturing arena: They are selling a highly sophisticated and complex automobile at retail that has an incredible amount of computer hardware and software incorporated into its functionality. I do not know the experience in Tesla's executive management, but I would hope that they have some heavy hitters who come from retail--preferably manufacturing products sold to end users. I believe that there is a difference is customer relations and service between the computer software and hardware industries as compared to the manufacture of household and personal items. It seems to me that Tesla is more focused on the former, while I believe they should give more consideration to the latter.

 

[Arvind]

I wanted to vote for all three.

- Over the last 3 months I went from ignorant and skeptical to informed and awed. Hence Choice 2.

- On the other hand, I've come to realize that Tesla and Elon are very much given to jumping the gun, missing promised dates, overpromising on occasion, and being misleading at times. This forum has also taught me the cars aren't perfect. Hence Choice 3.

- But bottom line, this is overall an awesome company with an awesome futuristic product that exceeds everything else by a clear margin on a bunch of dimensions, performance, range, safety, update capability, etc. Yet by now the hype matches the reality, whether it's the website or the sales staff or the stock price or even this very forum. Choice #1!!!

Hence all all things considered, I acknowledge the validity of people feeling like they need to pick 2 or 3, but after the first coup,e of oscillations, they damped and I'm very comfortably settled in option 1.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Well, that's an abject failure then, isn't it? You can't push people toward pre-paid service by NOT OFFERING IT.

I was simply reiterating what I was told by someone at Tesla. It sounds like their push is to get more people to pre-pay for service, obviously, since the ranger plan is no longer available.

Tesla's new proposal is to charge $600 (or is it $1200? Not clear to me) for every single service visit by someone in Ithaca (200 miles away from SC), just for the transportation. Apparently including for warranty service?!? Unacceptable risk of unlimited service costs, and so I'll be telling people not to buy the car.

Is this different than it was before? I've always cautioned people AWAY from buying this car if they are more than 50 miles from a service center. I don't know any other car company that offers free transportation for warranty service if the car is 200 miles from a dealership. I'm not familiar with Tesla's policy here, which is why I'm asking. I live 50 miles from my service center and don't encounter these types of issues.

 

[bonnie]

I need to amend my earlier post where I talked about why I was supportive of the company.

I just returned from a weekend roadtrip in a loaner Model S (my Roadster is receiving upgraded PEM fans). OMG! The BEST CAR EVER. I was supportive before. But I drove 800 miles yesterday, supercharging the whole way home, zero problems, best drive I've ever had. I love my Roadster but I don't know how I can ever take it on a roadtrip again.

Bjeebuz. I'm like a kid at Christmas. I've had a Model S for plenty of days, but never on a long roadtrip before. Holy )(@#*. You guys are super spoiled.

 

[taurusking]

I need to amend my earlier post where I talked about why I was supportive of the company.

I just returned from a weekend roadtrip in a loaner Model S (my Roadster is receiving upgraded PEM fans). OMG! The BEST CAR EVER. I was supportive before. But I drove 800 miles yesterday, supercharging the whole way home, zero problems, best drive I've ever had. I love my Roadster but I don't know how I can ever take it on a roadtrip again.

Bjeebuz. I'm like a kid at Christmas. I've had a Model S for plenty of days, but never on a long roadtrip before. Holy )(@#*. You guys are super spoiled.

I have never driven a roadster before and wanted to try but after reading your post ...I will stick with my MS...Thanks Bonnie:biggrin:

 

[Andyw2100]

Is this different than it was before? I've always cautioned people AWAY from buying this car if they are more than 50 miles from a service center. I don't know any other car company that offers free transportation for warranty service if the car is 200 miles from a dealership. I'm not familiar with Tesla's policy here, which is why I'm asking. I live 50 miles from my service center and don't encounter these types of issues.

If Tesla is actually enforcing this, it is definitely different than before.

I wrote the following upthread, in a response to one of your posts:

I'm pretty sure the plan you are talking about was no longer offered at the time I was purchasing my car. One rep on the phone, before realizing how remotely I lived from any service centers, had given me the $99 per ranger visit number when I had asked about how I'd get service. Later, someone in person told me the $99 did not apply to me, because I was more than 200 miles from a service center, so ranger visits would be at no charge. And again--no one has yet told me otherwise.

But all of that not withstanding, the ability to get service is an integral part of a car purchase. For those of us who live a good distance from any service center, the ranger service was touted as the answer to "how do we get service", and part of that answer for many of us included the $99 charge that went along with the ranger service. To quadruple or quintuple that charge, while perhaps allowed contractually, is not the customer-service oriented way to approach things.

As for how this applies to being transported to the service center, I was also told, by a regional service manager, that the service center actually preferred to come get my car and bring it back to me because they could send a fairly low level person out to do that, as opposed to having to send a much higher level service tech (the "ranger") out on the long drive. It is more efficient for Tesla that way because the tech isn't wasting time driving.

 

[bonnie]

I have never driven a roadster before and wanted to try but after reading your post ...I will stick with my MS...Thanks Bonnie:biggrin:

Well don't get me wrong. You'll never get me to sell my Roadster. It's got soul. Great for day trips. But the whole Supercharging option and air suspension and ROOM and display ... makes Model S Master of the Roadtrip.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh. And TACC. That definitely made the trip more relaxing.

 

[Andyw2100]

Oh. And TACC. That definitely made the trip more relaxing.

Just imagine how relaxing it would have been with lane keeping! (Ducking!)

 

[bonnie]

Just imagine how relaxing it would have been with lane keeping! (Ducking!)

I dunno. Too much at once, I think. It's coming. Seriously, the whole car is a thing of wonder. You guys lost a TON of sympathy from me over the last 800 miles yesterday. Just sayin'.

(And I love the yacht floor, perfect for that whole purse-thing. Did it match? Dunno. It had mah stuff all over it!!)

 

[Andyw2100]

(And I love the yacht floor, perfect for that whole purse-thing. Did it match? Dunno. It had mah stuff all over it!!)

You and my wife should get together. Whenever I complain about the mismatched console she points out that she lost the place she liked to keep her purse, and didn't want it (the console) in the first place!

 

[jbcarioca]

... Holy )(@#*. You guys are super spoiled.

You're completely right! That is why we are entitled to bitterly complain if we can find anything substantial that is missing. OMG, we don't even have grab Bars. What horror!:cursing: and that's not all; we don't have coat hooks either!:cursing: Worse, we're actually expected to drive these things; they don't drive themselves. Now seriously, how agonising are those horrible things!?:crying: Worst of all there is nothing in the world we'd rather drive so we are stuck with all those problems...

 

[TexasEV]

You and my wife should get together. Whenever I complain about the mismatched console she points out that she lost the place she liked to keep her purse, and didn't want it (the console) in the first place!

With the open space so great for purses, I wonder why people say the Model S wasn't designed with women in mind and the Model X will have more features geared towards women owners.
I don't know what people are wanting the center console for except out of habit. Think of all the things we used to keep in center consoles that we don't carry around in cars anymore-- maps, tapes or CDs, change. There's room in the shelf under the center screen for sunglasses case and there's always the glove compartment for a little closed storage.

 

[BoerumHill]

Based on the fine posts from bonnie and TexsEV, we've found a cure for Andyw2100's insomnia.

Andy, if Momma's not happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy. Just rip that dang thing out and throw it in the loft space of your garage. Don't store it in the corner! You'll still see it everyday and get aggravated all over again. Then admit that you - not Tesla - were wrong. Tell your wife that (once again) she was right, never should have ordered that stupid center console in the first place.

Voilà! Problem solved.

 

[NigelM]

I know Tesla monitors the forums... I kind of hope they take note of this poll...

Putting all the typical problems with simple instant polls aside....the current results have 38% just as happy as ever and 35% happier than before, but only 27% less happy. So despite the frustrations around firmware releases the poll is indicating that Tesla is doing the right thing often enough, although they aren't perfect and do have room for improvement.

To quote John Lydgate:

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

 

[bonnie]

Based on the fine posts from bonnie and TexsEV, we've found a cure for Andyw2100's insomnia.

Andy, if Momma's not happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy. Just rip that dang thing out and throw it in the loft space of your garage. Don't store it in the corner! You'll still see it everyday and get aggravated all over again. Then admit that you - not Tesla - were wrong. Tell your wife that (once again) she was right, never should have ordered that stupid center console in the first place.

Voilà! Problem solved.

You'll get bonus points for telling her she was right. Work it, Andy.

 

[tezzla]

Putting all the typical problems with simple instant polls aside....the current results have 38% just as happy as ever and 35% happier than before, but only 27% less happy. So despite the frustrations around firmware releases the poll is indicating that Tesla is doing the right thing often enough, although they aren't perfect and do have room for improvement.

To quote John Lydgate:

I prefer George Bush's quote: "You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."

 

[darthy001]

Putting all the typical problems with simple instant polls aside....the current results have 38% just as happy as ever and 35% happier than before, but only 27% less happy. So despite the frustrations around firmware releases the poll is indicating that Tesla is doing the right thing often enough, although they aren't perfect and do have room for improvement.

To quote John Lydgate:

Well, unhappy customers are potentially a lot more dangerous for a company than the happy ones. So 27% or even 5% here could be really bad for Tesla. The company I work for track this daily via net promoter scoring to catch unhappy customers before they potentially start spreading negatives about us. I know Tesla has tried similar, proactively contacting forum-users, but in the much discussed cases here they have not done the necessary efforts in my mind.

Had my deparment gotten 27% negative rating in such a scoring session we would be at red alert asap....

As mentioned many times before I find it truly amazing that the comms-department at Tesla is still making the same mistakes over and over again. They have managed to turn some of their biggest promoters into hesitant/annoyed/etc owners reluctant to sing their praises anymore. That is just sad. I know of 4 lost sales in Norway due to me personally not wanting to recommend the car to those people based on their willingness to accept Tesla-sidefeffects....