How to fix Tesla Customer Service

[ATPMSD]

With a few exceptions, we knowTesla customer service sucks. We cannot talk to anyone, support is practically non-existent, repairs take forever, and the list goes on and on. So how do we fix this? Hit them where it hurts!

Tesla does not advertise and instead relies on their customers - us - in talking up our cars to our friends and associates, who then run out and buy a Tesla. But what do you think would happen if we stopped doing this? Instead of talking up our cars how about we start sharing the support horror stories? When Tesla sales tank they will then have one of two choices: 1. Start delierving real customer service or 2. Spend a lot of money on advertising. Of course trying to tell people how wonderful their cars are will be an uphill battle when their existing customers tell people not to buy.

So let’s start telling people the truth about the whole Tesla experience and not just how cool the car is.

 

[dhrivnak]

Sorry but I just went to the service center for the 2nd time in over 6 years to get my computer upgraded for free thanks to FSD. Service was good, I test drove a Model 3 Highland, amazing and I found out they replaced my 12v for free and I was NOT having any issues. I do not know how they could have done any better.

 

[ATPMSD]

Sorry but I just went to the service center for the 2nd time in over 6 years to get my computer upgraded for free thanks to FSD. Service was good, I test drove a Model 3 Highland, amazing and I found out they replaced my 12v for free and I was NOT having any issues. I do not know how they could have done any better.

Glad you had a good service experience! Unfortunately you seem to be the exception and not the rule. If you feel you are getting good support from Tesla you should tell people. On the other hand, those who are not getting good support should do the same and let the free market decide.

 

[Midpack]

With a few exceptions, we knowTesla customer service sucks. We cannot talk to anyone, support is practically non-existent, repairs take forever, and the list goes on and on. So how do we fix this? Hit them where it hurts!

So let’s start telling people the truth about the whole Tesla experience and not just how cool the car is.

How about each owner just shares what their actual experience has been, and let the chips fall as they may. Unless you have actual data, who says you know “the truth.” I can find you horror stories on any make/model car or any product for that matter. And before you point to posts here, remember people share complaints at a much higher frequency than satisfied customers - just human nature.

And if you don’t like Teslas, why did you buy another one?

 

[ATPMSD]

How about each owner just shares what their actual experience has been, and let the chips fall as they may. Unless you have actual data, who says you know “the truth.” I can find you horror stories on any make/model car or any product for that matter. And before you point to posts here, remember people share complaints at a much higher frequency than satisfied customers - just human nature.

And if you don’t like Teslas, why did you buy another one?

Agree. Recall my comment is:

“So let’s start telling people the truth about the whole Tesla experience and not just how cool the car is.” Each person should of course tell their truth and in your works “let the chips fall where they may.”

My reason for buying another Tesla was I wanted another EV and Tesla was really the only game in town. As a person who considers themselves to be an early adopter I am willing to tolerate a lot. But that does not mean we should sit by ideally By and let Tesla get away with things they shouldn’t.

 

[terranx]

Agree. Recall my comment is:

“So let’s start telling people the truth about the whole Tesla experience and not just how cool the car is.” Each person should of course tell their truth and in your works “let the chips fall where they may.”

My reason for buying another Tesla was I wanted another EV and Tesla was really the only game in town. As a person who considers themselves to be an early adopter I am willing to tolerate a lot. But that does not mean we should sit by ideally By and let Tesla get away with things they shouldn’t.

Problem is the Tesla discussion pages on most social media is heavily censored. This forum is okay, but even then has its issues with things like heavy handed restrictions on discussing the ceo. But going on Reddit or Facebook and not singing praises gets you banned quickly.

 

[jjrandorin]

Glad you had a good service experience! Unfortunately you seem to be the exception and not the rule. If you feel you are getting good support from Tesla you should tell people. On the other hand, those who are not getting good support should do the same and let the free market decide.

I actually dont think so. I just think that online it skews that way because the thing to do now is complain online. In one of the waiting room threads, someone got a vin, then posted "and now tesla doesnt respond", when it turned out "doesnt respond" was a matter of hours, related to the person getting a vin and trying to immediately schedule delivery.

The entire "got vin, got excited contacted tesla to schedule delivery" thing is totally fine, but when someone doesnt immediately respond, the next thought was "let me post about it".

Every interaction I have had with Tesla employees over my ownership period (since 2018) has been fine. Some are slower than others to do what I would like (Tesla energy) but ended up doing the right thing.

I dont think its the exception to get decent service, I just think its "normalized" for people to complain about stuff online, and many people (not all) spin it so they did nothing wrong, when thats not how it was when they were there.

 

[electricar]

I have found that if you play by their rules; using the app to schedule etc, things have gone well but, then again, I don't need to have my a** kissed because I'm a big deal due to driving such a magnificent car. So far mobile service sure beats sitting in the waiting room drinking lousy coffee watching my car sit in the parking waiting for a mechanic come get it or driving a loaner with a sticky steering wheel and the service advisors never start the upsell 2 step. Between that and the greatly reduced maintenance required I haven't missed the franchised dealership at all.

 

[CapsEngineer]

My tale of recent customer experiences getting work done on our cars.

We bought my wife an MKZ from a local Ford/Lincoln dealership that has “Customer for Life” benefits. You get free tire rotation, oil changes, multi-point inspections, etc. And, because it is a Lincoln, free pickup and delivery service. However, the last time we had the car services we found out that the pickup/delivery is only for the first 5 years. Not a deal breaker, but just an annoyance. Went to schedule service two weeks ago and saw that they had mobile service. Great, I’ll try that. Schedule it by picking CFL as the service option and it said $0. So I schedule it for 9 last Friday. Get a call that they need to move it to 1 because they already had an appointment at 9. Again, an annoyance, but they called right away and we were going to be home so no big deal. Then they tell me that it is a $50 charge for the CFL and mobile. Something not stated when I got the appointment. I took it because I this point I just want to get it done. They show up on time, do the work, ask me to sign the paperwork and leave. I thought they decided that it might have been free. Nope, get a call from the service manager asking how I’m paying. I said I’ll get my credit card and they tell me if I use a debit card, they won’t add the 3% extra charge. Lots of minor annoyances that just kept cropping up at EVERY interaction with them.

The same time as I was scheduling that, I scheduled an appointment to get the HEPA retrofit on my MY, tires rotated, cabin filter replaced, and steering wheel replaced. The steering wheel needed to be replaced because when the replaced the steering column they scratched the leather on the bottom of the steering wheel. Since I never see it, I didn’t think it was a big deal. ~8K miles later, that part of the steering wheel is bubbling so I want it replaced. I put all this information, along with pictures showing the damage, in the service request. I scheduled this for the 27th. At the time I didn’t realize that was Memorial Day and when I did, I kept waiting for a message requesting to move it. Instead, on Friday, I received a message reminding me that my service was being performed on Monday. Monday, they showed up early did all the work and when the tech was finished, he ran down the list of what was done. To my surprise, the steering wheel was covered. I fully expected to be charged the full amount because I was out of warranty. I was going to offer to pay part because not bringing the damage to their attention was on me, but causing the damage was on them.

Given these recent interactions, I think I had a better experience with Tesla instead of all the minor annoyances with the Ford/Lincoln dealership.

 

[Snakedoc]

I've also had nothing but great service each time I had to bring my car in. Even when I had my battery pack replaced last year, reported my error message, got an appt within a few days, took it in on a Thursday and got it back the next day. I think location has a lot to do with it also.

 

[electricar]

I totally agree. Tesla SC are similar to dealer service departments - some are better than others. Musk's purges mean that Tesla often has massive employee turnover, even more so than dealers in my experience, so things can change rapidly for better or worse. I have seen good employees terminated ( replaced by people who are paid less? ). In my many decades in the car business I found that destroying a good service department can happen rapidly while turning a bad one around takes considerably longer. My local SC has been good through out my 6 years of ownership for both of my cars.