How to get a live person on the phone at Tyson’s Service Center?

[CatB]

I have what I consider an intermittent safety issue with my car (sideview mirror stayed retracted when I was driving, no idea why it happened, couldn’t fix it when I parked and moved in/out of Reverse/drive/park; didn’t have time to reboot). I wanted to get it checked out. I also figured it would be a good time to address 2 other aesthetic issues (broken glovebox cover and condensation in taillight) and threw in the hw3 upgrade just to get it in there. Unfortunately, that moved my Saturday at-home appt to 2 weeks out, at Tyson’s at a time when I’m not available.

I spent over an hour trying to navigate Tesla’s IVR/VRU-hell and website. Gave up and called service, explained to a live person the problem and what I would like (Sat morning, @home, safety issue, plus whatever else can be done conveniently). The nice guy I spoke to found the record (asked for my VIN) and said he sent the request over to service and they’d call me back. And crickets...
And now sales isn’t answering the phone...

Any clues? Suggestions?

And yes, I consider this kind of horrible service mindset a bigger risk to my TSLA investment than COVID . I wish we could convince Elon of this...

 

[Only Trons]

Hi there CatB. Haven't seen you in ages!

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you. I've run into similar communication issues with Tesla service (or should I say "semi-service." ). I remember the good old days in early 2013 when you could reach people at the service centers. .. and they recognized you and knew your name.

I could tell you some of my recent issues but won't do so here. Maybe over a beer?

That being said, I have heard that you can just drive in for a safety issue. That may or may not work with your schedule or with your list of other items, but you might want to consider it.

 

[CatB]

Hey, OnlyTrons great to hear from you as well!
Yes, the “good old days” when we didn’t mind being beta testers for the tech. Unfortunately, the process is still broken.

Since presumably first thing they’d do for the mirror issue is check logs and they can do that from roadside service, maybe I should just try calling them to see what they can see. If they say “oh yeah, that bug fixed in this s/w” then easy fix, no ranger needed. If they say “hw problem” then they may be able to check on the part and get ranger scheduled (and maybe fix the rest).

For everyone else, bump?

 

[gavine]

If you can find the email address or phone number of that location, that is the best way. When you call service, you're getting a call center in Arizona I believe. Also, driving directly there works, but not if the car is unsafe to drive.

 

[WATTS-UP]

OK Cat, this is for the Philadelphia area. I got to know the manager of the TESLA service center and have his email address. So when I can't get through to service I sent the manager a copy of my email. The good thing is I always get a response for the manager and manage to get a live person on the phone after that. I do agree that by driving to the service center is the way to go but we should not have to.

My Model S goes to my local mechanic for just about everything now. After 101,000 miles Tesla will not see my car unless it has a major issue.

 

[CatB]

Thanks, guys, I will try email. My boss (in Milan, Italy) was thinking about buying a Tesla Model 3, but what he heard about service convinced him not to. No argument from me because of what I’d heard here on the forum about Tyson’s, which is why I always tried to go to Owings Mills instead.

 

[jthompson]

Hey CatB - I always use the app to schedule an appointment at Glen Allen. And usually within an hour I have a confirmation email.

 

[CatB]

Well, yeah, thanks, that’s where I started...

I’m trying to get the ranger appointment back at my house tomorrow to address The urgent intermittent issue and, if possible, the other two should-be-easy issues. There is no way to modify an appointment that doesn’t involve canceling what you have already. I made the appointment for Sat 3/14 on mid-week (3rd or 4th) last week. I got the email confirming my appointment a few days ago and the appointment moved to Thurs 3/26th at Tysons - I’m guessing because I asked for hw3 upgrade. I tried to modify the appointment on the app, and it wants to give me 3/31 in Tysons. If anything, I’ll do Owings Mills because it’s on my way to my parents house.

The problem is that the app doesn’t give you flexible options, and there’s no way to talk to a person who can fix it.

If anyone can PM me an email address for Tysons, I’d appreciate it. Spent half-hour looking for it yesterday, but ran out of time.

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

I have only been able to schedule through the phone on my app. and that screws up after the first item. Unfortunately I stop by the dealership and talk to them face to face works best. That is what we did the last two times I had work done to the car. For all of our FSD computer upgrades we have used the app, then text back and forth.

Tesla is doubling the size of the Tyson's Service center , hopefully it will come with telephones that answer.

 

[CatB]

I almost marked that “funny” because “telephones that answer”

It’s just mind-boggling to me that we have been complaining about poor CX for about 6 years. The first year I had my S, it was great, but all high-touch “we’re building capacity/competency even our own IT systems” so I figured/hoped the Blankenship approach to sales would filter to service and they’d have ironed it out.
I’m afraid Elon just thinks fixing CX for service is not important because that would just increase demand and he’s focused on supply. But the productivity cost of incompetent CX has got to be insane. The amount of time/work/$ that goes into doing something partially, stupidly and over a longer period of time than doing it right the first time is a financial drain on resources.

Maybe COVID will force some people to work from home and think through a better approach... trying to find a silver lining...