How long between inspection and PTO? [various areas]

[Yonki]

My install was in late August, inspection passed in late September, and after months of no progress, 4 different "Project Advisors" who literally never responded to a single email I sent*, and hours on hold (because apparently phone calls are the only way to establish two-way contact with Tesla), on Jan 5 I finally got an "Interconnection Request Confirmation" email from PG&E. So there's light at the end of the tunnel? I hope?

* Note: When I said "literally never responded to a single email I sent", that applied to the 10 or so polite, friendly, professional emails I sent trying to find out what my status was (and trying to get the 1 DOA of 3 Powerwalls replaced). On Jan 4, out of sheer frustration and feeling that I had nothing to lose (they couldn't treat me any worse than they already were), I sent an honest, angry, f-bomb-laden email to all 4 of my "Project Advisors". My original Advisor wrote me back that day (I was not expecting an answer at all), semi-apologized, and said "I will reach out and do everything I can to move your project forward."

The next day I got that email from PG&E. Coincidence? Either it is coincidence or PG&E is incredibly responsive which would mean Tesla really is the bottleneck.

I honestly can't believe how terrible Tesla Energy's service is. I'm sure they are understaffed and overworked, but to not even respond to customers' communications and only move projects forward on the basis of who's screaming the loudest is beyond incompetent. There should be some heads rolling in Energy's upper management.

As a customer and a long-time shareholder, I am frustrated and alarmed and still angry. (However, as a long-time shareholder, I am also grateful that I basically no longer have to worry about money - it doesn't make it right, but it takes a little bit of the edge off.)

 

[dailo]

After speaking to several different people within Tesla, it is mostly due to every person is responsible for so many projects. The guy I spoke with the most mentioned it was impossible to get through his inbox everyday and that most just trust the automation in the system works. However, if your project gets stuck on a step that needs some manual override it will get stuck there until someone goes in and fixes the issue, which happened on my project and I had to call in to move it along. It is a horrible system, but with like everything at Tesla they want it all automated and are always short staffed. Until enough people stop buying from them I guess they don’t have enough incentive to fix it.

 

[Yonki]

After speaking to several different people within Tesla, it is mostly due to every person is responsible for so many projects. The guy I spoke with the most mentioned it was impossible to get through his inbox everyday and that most just trust the automation in the system works. However, if your project gets stuck on a step that needs some manual override it will get stuck there until someone goes in and fixes the issue, which happened on my project and I had to call in to move it along. It is a horrible system, but with like everything at Tesla they want it all automated and are always short staffed. Until enough people stop buying from them I guess they don’t have enough incentive to fix it.

Totally believable but pretty sad. And pretty inefficient, since the only way to contact them and get things done ends up being over the phone, which has to be a lot more time-consuming than parsing emails (many of which lay out the details of the problem in an organized manner vs having to probe a customer over the phone).

Maybe once Dojo is up and running they can use AI to automatically parse emails with complicated sentences like “Why has there been no progress on my system for 5 months?” And respond with “You are our top priority. We are working very hard to resolve your issue/delay/problem. Please be patient, and remember: Tesla Loves You.”

Even a condescending autoresponse would be better than what I got since my system was installed.

 

[dailo]

Totally believable but pretty sad. And pretty inefficient, since the only way to contact them and get things done ends up being over the phone, which has to be a lot more time-consuming than parsing emails (many of which lay out the details of the problem in an organized manner vs having to probe a customer over the phone).

Maybe once Dojo is up and running they can use AI to automatically parse emails with complicated sentences like “Why has there been no progress on my system for 5 months?” And respond with “You are our top priority. We are working very hard to resolve your issue/delay/problem. Please be patient, and remember: Tesla Loves You.”

Even a condescending autoresponse would be better than what I got since my system was installed.

Also doesn’t help they hire a lot of people who really just don’t care. Of all the people I spoke with only a few actually followed up with me and tracked down the right person to help, most just say a canned response to get you off the line.

 

[sunwarriors]

My guess is these jobs are extremely low paying, high turnover, low skill set learning, just a warm body to regurjitate info and really, no long term future so low pay, no service.

The comment about heads rolling in upper management, I think already happened a while back. Costs were overly high I believe for the solar division and they fired a lot of people and this is what you get.

The only reason I've seen to go with Tesla solar is still to save $$. The headache and risk (nem3.0) is not worth it at this time with installs taking 6+ months from start/finish.

The Tesla brand name goes a long way from their car division.

 

[ptdusn]

My guess is these jobs are extremely low paying, high turnover, low skill set learning, just a warm body to regurjitate info and really, no long term future so low pay, no service.

The comment about heads rolling in upper management, I think already happened a while back. Costs were overly high I believe for the solar division and they fired a lot of people and this is what you get.

The only reason I've seen to go with Tesla solar is still to save $$. The headache and risk (nem3.0) is not worth it at this time with installs taking 6+ months from start/finish.

The Tesla brand name goes a long way from their car division.

That's one of the reasons i decided to go with Sunrun instead of Tesla due to the customer service debacle. Sunrun kept me informed and in the loop at every turn.

 

[tfan2018]

Tesla told me even though I made payment for my cash system with credit card, it takes system 10 days before they officially count the money as received before they submit payment. I was told it will take up to 90 days for PTO.

Things are sure moving as slowly as a slug.

 

[FurryOne]

I was told it will take up to 90 days for PTO.

I was told 60-90 days. Then I was told 90-120 days. I'm now at 145 days, and my utility still hasn't heard from Tesla. Every time I call i get apologies and told they will email somebody to try and unjam things... yeah, sure.

 

[sk00]

I was told 60-90 days. Then I was told 90-120 days. I'm now at 145 days, and my utility still hasn't heard from Tesla. Every time I call i get apologies and told they will email somebody to try and unjam things... yeah, sure.

Also in NY. My guess is the same NY interconnection team at Tesla works on your case. My installation was July 2021 and PTO was December 2021 (so ~150 days). Dealing with Tesla during the five months till PTO was very painful to say the least, and I considered legal action.

If you haven't already, make sure to submit a complaint to the NY state AG. Then call/email your advisor (or the general advisor line if your advisor is unresponsive) at least a few times a week, until some action is taken.

 

[itsc]

I guess this is highly regional. We got PTO yesterday. Inspection passed a couple of days before Christmas. The utility send me a mail a couple of days later but I didn’t realize it until last week. We scheduled the meter exchange for this week and PTO was granted a few days after the exchange.

The local inspector was quite thorough and he made Tesla fix every minor issue down to the correct number of screws on the panel cover or removing a stray screw from the neutral bar. It took three inspections until it passed.

 

[ThatPeter]

Hello - just registered here to post and comment on our delays...

System ordered June 9th, initial documentation completed same day
Install begin on 8/16
Powerwall finished on 9/1
Inspection failed on 9/3 - they did not wire one of the kitchen fuses correctly
Inspection passed on 9/10

Still no PTO from SDGE (in SoCal). I have wasted so many hours on calls and sitting on hold right now trying to get through to someone
Issues with them:
1) Filed the form incorrectly (wrong account number). Had to call them in October to resolve
2) Filed the form incorrectly (wrong name?!?). Had to call them in November to resolve
3) Filed the form incorrectly (said I just got a powerwall and not solar?!?). Had to call in December to resolve
4) Still had not filed the form as of January. I called last week and eventually got through to someone named Spencer who said he would make sure it gets filed. It was not filed as of 1/18 so I am on hold again.

I truly regret going with Tesla for Solar and have cancelled my car order with them. If anyone knows of a way to get help with this I am all ears.

 

[Yonki]

The next day I got that email from PG&E. Coincidence? Either it is coincidence or PG&E is incredibly responsive which would mean Tesla really is the bottleneck.

Update: 2 weeks after PG&E said they'd received the NEM request from Tesla, I called PG&E to check on things, and they said there was a problem with my paperwork (Tesla had given them an incorrect meter number), and PG&E asked them to fix it. Two weeks ago. However it appeared to the PG&E guy that Tesla had been trying to use a communications "portal" that had been retired and replaced by a new one at the end of August, so there was some sort of communications breakdown and PG&E had never received a corrected form. The PG&E guy was flabbergasted that Tesla could still be trying to use the retired portal. So yesterday I sent an email to Tesla with this info, and this morning my Tesla account had new NEM paperwork to sign (with my correct meter number), so it looks like we're inching forward again.

The best part was that while I was on the phone with PG&E discovering that they couldn't move forward because Tesla wasn't responding to PG&E's requests, I got an automated text from Tesla blaming PG&E for the holdup:

...we are actively working with your utility on the submission for permission to activate your system. We still require their approval before we can move to the next step. You can always check the status of your project in your Tesla Account.

Long story short, if I hadn't called PG&E and checked on this, and then told Tesla exactly what was wrong, it looks like it would have just sat there in limbo for who knows how long.

I think Tesla Energy is in a vicious circle - they're understaffed, so they screw up and then have to spend additional time redoing stuff, talking to angry customers, redoing paperwork, etc., so they end up futher behind and screw new things up, which costs more of their limited time, which then...

 

[Vines]

Update: 2 weeks after PG&E said they'd received the NEM request from Tesla, I called PG&E to check on things, and they said there was a problem with my paperwork (Tesla had given them an incorrect meter number), and PG&E asked them to fix it. Two weeks ago. However it appeared to the PG&E guy that Tesla had been trying to use a communications "portal" that had been retired and replaced by a new one at the end of August, so there was some sort of communications breakdown and PG&E had never received a corrected form. The PG&E guy was flabbergasted that Tesla could still be trying to use the retired portal. So yesterday I sent an email to Tesla with this info, and this morning my Tesla account had new NEM paperwork to sign (with my correct meter number), so it looks like we're inching forward again.

The best part was that while I was on the phone with PG&E discovering that they couldn't move forward because Tesla wasn't responding to PG&E's requests, I got an automated text from Tesla blaming PG&E for the holdup:

Long story short, if I hadn't called PG&E and checked on this, and then told Tesla exactly what was wrong, it looks like it would have just sat there in limbo for who knows how long.

I think Tesla Energy is in a vicious circle - they're understaffed, so they screw up and then have to spend additional time redoing stuff, talking to angry customers, redoing paperwork, etc., so they end up futher behind and screw new things up, which costs more of their limited time, which then...

What a frustrating experience, basically you need to be your own project manager to ensure that things keep moving.

Meanwhile, when I went for Powerwalls I went through the company I work for. They worked hard to get me SGIP funds, and my final cost is lower than what Tesla could do my project for even paying retail for it.

I will update all here when I get my final inspection and how long it took to get PTO afterwards.

With NEM 3.0 coming, there is no way Tesla can continue this pattern without really screwing up some customer's financial payback.

 

[sunwarriors]

They worked hard to get me SGIP funds

Did you get your PWs for 85% off or free? Was just curious if you don't mind sharing...I'm still praying/waiting on SGIP (not free in my case). That's a painful process to go through.

I think for any solar install, esp now (NEM3.0), you really have to project manage it and micromanage it.

It's easy for Tesla to blame the utilities, but when the complaints show up, a lot of the cases tend to be Tesla Solar installs (in CA). Other states seem to have less issues from what I've read here.

 

[tfan2018]

Inspection passed Dec 20. Called and asked for status and they still haven’t submitted paperwork to PG&E. Tesla said it takes up to 90 days for them to submit paperwork and then another 2-4 weeks after that for PG&E to grant PTO. So I am looking at another 3+ months for PTO?? It’s so ridiculous!!!

 

[cciesingh]

I have had a similar sh*t show from the cowboys in Nor Cal.

A two days install for 17.5kw system and three power walls has ended up with 5 visits / days on site so far and still one of my two investors are not working, I am chasing this like a dog multiple and I am now done with them.

Who should I raise a complaint too in california?

 

[yblaser]

Inspection passed Dec 20. Called and asked for status and they still haven’t submitted paperwork to PG&E. Tesla said it takes up to 90 days for them to submit paperwork and then another 2-4 weeks after that for PG&E to grant PTO. So I am looking at another 3+ months for PTO?? It’s so ridiculous!!!

I'm in Southern California with SCE so most likely a different group at Tesla working on mine. For reference though I had my inspection completed Dec 8. I called in about 4 weeks later to check on the status. They gave me the 60-90 day line about submitting the paperwork, but coincidentally or not I got an email the next day that they submitted the interconnection request. Unfortunately SCE rejected the application the next day due to an error in the request. I called back last week, a week after the initial submission, and the person was not able to help much or provide much information. I called back yesterday about 2 weeks after the first submission. The support person put me and hold and talked to the interconnection team. They said they were working on it but there were some applications ahead of mine. Again coincidentally or not I got an email today that they resubmitted the corrected interconnection request. Hopefully no errors this time but we shall see.

 

[dailo]

Every time I called and got ahold of someone, they always gave me the canned response that it would take one to two weeks, but if they actually spoke to someone with the interconnection team I would see the notification email by the end of the day. The problem with the Tesla model is that it is always reactive instead of proactive, which leads to horrible customer service. If I exclude all the delays from Tesla, I would have had my PTO in less then a week. All of the mistakes made were really simple too, like the put the wrong part number on the application or forgot to send the correct signed copy of some document. If you look at the job description, you can tell a lot of expected for the people doing the job and probably not enough reward.

Interconnection Specialist, Resi Energy | Tesla Careers

Apply for the Interconnection Specialist, Resi Energy position in Draper, Utah.

www.tesla.com

 

[PerformanceY]

I just filed a complaint with the MA AG last Friday. We passed electrical inspection end of May, and I paid in full cash on June 1st. Tesla freely admits it has not filed the one page paperwork to get the PTO. They can't tell me when this will happen. This is really no way to treat a paying customer. I hope they don't lose their license to operate in Massachusetts, but I was really left with no choice. Especially since my advisor won't respond to my emails any longer.

My “advisor” ignores most of my emails and the ones he responds to are days later. I passed inspection 8 months ago and still don’t have PTO. My utility is waiting for Tesla to respond to an email… for 5 weeks now. If I could return this system and get my money back I would. I despise Tesla. I love paying for the Tesla loan AND my power bill for 8 months. Totally not wasteful at all.

 

[yblaser]

My “advisor” ignores most of my emails and the ones he responds to are days later. I passed inspection 8 months ago and still don’t have PTO. My utility is waiting for Tesla to respond to an email… for 5 weeks now. If I could return this system and get my money back I would. I despise Tesla. I love paying for the Tesla loan AND my power bill for 8 months. Totally not wasteful at all.

Sorry you are going through this. Emails seem to be ineffective at getting any attention at Tesla. I would guess most just end up unread. Unfortunately I think you need to call, call again, and call again until you get an advisor team member on the phone willing to actively help your situation. It's a lot of time to spend on hold but that seems to generate the biggest results. What utility are you served by?